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Two people in Croatia have been arrested on charges of espionage in favor of Serbia. A Croatian Air Force pilot, JI, and his partner AM, a Kosovo Serb citizen from North Mitrovica, were arrested.
According to information from the Croatian media outlet Index, investigations are being conducted in cooperation between civilian and military police, while the international agency Europol is also involved in the case.
It is suspected that the military helicopter pilot transmitted sensitive information to his partner, who then sent it to the "Serbian List" party in Kosovo.
Both have been questioned and a decision is awaited on whether they will be placed in custody. JI, who previously served in the NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo (KFOR), is suspected of having disclosed confidential information to his partner about the movement of KFOR troops and the security situation in northern Kosovo, including the municipality of Zubin Potok.
According to investigators, the information also included data on the movements of Serbs in northern Kosovo from the end of 2022 to the present, as well as on the engagements and location of KFOR units.
The couple is also suspected of exchanging information regarding the transportation of Dejan Pantic, a former Kosovo police officer arrested for participating in attacks on representatives of the Central Election Commission in North Mitrovica.
Following Pantic's arrest in December 2022, protests erupted in northern Kosovo, with blockades and barricades on the main roads leading to the Jarinje and Brnjak border crossings.
Since Kosovo does not have its own helicopters, authorities requested the assistance of KFOR to transfer Pantic to another facility. KFOR is the only mechanism in the region with the capacity to airlift detained or injured persons.
The Croatian pilot, who has participated in humanitarian missions and rescue operations, including in Afghanistan, is suspected of passing sensitive information to his partner that may have compromised national security and stability in the region.
The Croatian pilot's partner previously worked for a foreign company in Serbia and is known in media circles as a journalist from North Mitrovica. She is a sociologist by profession and has visited Croatia several times before.
The couple was arrested on July 25 of this year, but the case was only recently made public.
While the pilot is in custody, his partner has been deported from Croatia and placed in a reception center for foreigners in the town of Trilj.
It is suspected that investigators later found compromising communications on their phones, which are now seen as evidence under suspicion of espionage in favor of Serbia.
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