Dozens of Kosovo Serbs protested on Monday in North Mitrovica after Kosovo authorities closed five Serbia-run ‘parallel institutions’ in the Serb-majority north, part of continuing efforts to extend government authority.
Dozens of Kosovo Serbs protested on Monday in front of the offices of the Serbia-run parallel municipality in North Mitrovica, which Kosovo’s authorities shout down on Friday.
“The employees who worked … at the parallel municipality here [in North Mitrovica] came to show up for work today. Citizens also joined them, 70 to 80 persons in total,” the deputy director of the Kosovo Police for the country’s north, Veton Elshani, told BIRN.
He said the protesters “tried to get inside to work but we told them that the building is under investigation by the Mitrovica prosecution. The facility is blocked and even us, the police, cannot enter.” No incidents were reported.
On Friday, Kosovo Police raided five premises in the Serb-majority north operated by Serbia-backed “parallel institutions”. They said they acted after they they received information that falsified documents were being issued there.
The raids resulted in the closure of the parallel municipalities of North Mitrovica, Zubin Potok, Leposavic and Zvecan, and the parallel offices of the Mitrovica District.
Police said they confiscated documents, tech devices and relevant evidence. They also raided the hospital in North Mitrovica and confiscated a military jacket, a bag, rounds of ammunition, two knives and a hunting gun sheath.
Western ambassadors criticised the oparation for potentially increasing tension in the north of the country.
Jeffrey Hovenier, the US ambassador to Pristina, in a statement said the US “reiterates its concern and disappointment with continuing uncoordinated actions taken by the government of Kosovo that continue to have a direct and negative effect on members of the ethnic Serb community and other minority communities in Kosovo.
“As we have previously noted, the government of Kosovo’s uncoordinated actions put Kosovan citizens and KFOR [NATO’s Kosovo force] soldiers at greater risk, unnecessarily escalate regional tensions, and undermine Kosovo’s reputation as a reliable international partner,” he said.
Hovenier called for such decisions to be made in future within the framework of Kosovo’s EU-mediated dialogue with Serbia.
The head of the UN mission in Kosovo, UNMIK, Caroline Ziadeh, also expressed “deep concern about these unilateral actions” and reiterated calls for such decisions to be made within the EU-facilitated dialogue.
“These actions impact the socioeconomic rights of the affected communities and the well-being of all individuals. They also undermine efforts to consolidate trust between different communities and to maintain security, stability and peace,” she said.
On Sunday, at the building of the former parallel municipality of Mitrovica, Kosovo authorities put up a signboard for the Department for Drivers’ Licences, part of the Kosovo Ministry for Environment and Spatial Planning. Official Kosovo signs were installed in other buildings previously used by Serbia-run parallel offices.
The Kosovo government claims that the closed offices, which are illegal in Kosovo, threaten Kosovo’s constitutional order.
In 2013, Kosovo and Serbia agreed in Brussels on the dissolution of so-called parallel institutions, effectively financed and run by the government of Serbia. The agreement has not been implemented in its entirety.
The weekend closure follows simmering tensions after hundreds of Serbs protested on August 7 against the Kosovo government’s move to open the main bridge in Mitrovica, which divides the Serb-dominated north and Albanian south of the city.
02 September 2024 – 14:45
