Kosovo closes parallel Serbian institutions in ten municipalities

2025-01-15 10:40:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Kosovo closes parallel Serbian institutions in ten municipalities

The Post Office of Serbia building in Gracanica

Kosovo's Minister of Internal Affairs, Xhelal Sveçla, announced that on Wednesday morning, parallel municipalities in Serbia, as well as post offices and tax offices in ten different municipalities in the country, were closed.

Police actions were taken in the municipalities of Lipjan, Obiliq, Pristina, Fushë Kosovë/Kosovo Polje, Vushtrri, Novo Brdo, Kamenica, Viti, Rahovec and Skenderaj.

"With joint action, the era of Serbia's parallel and criminal municipalities and institutions in the Republic of Kosovo ends," Sveçla's post on social media reads.

In the video he published, Kosovo's Minister of Local Government Administration, Elbert Krasniqi, was also seen saying that "as of today, Serbia's 28 parallel, criminal municipalities in Kosovo and their five districts are finally closed."

Authorities in Kosovo say that the work of these Serbian institutions, which have been in operation since the post-war period in 1999, is "illegal", and began closing them early last year.

Lisa Serbe - the largest Serb party in Kosovo - announced that it will hold a meeting and address the media during the day.

In Serbia, Foreign Minister Marko Djuric described the latest action by Kosovo authorities as a "dangerous escalation."

"These aggressive moves are not only an attack on institutions, but also an open attempt to undermine the collective rights and identity of Serbs in Kosovo," Djuric wrote on social media.

He said that the international community should not remain silent, but "protect the rights of Serbs in Kosovo."

Even the director of the Office for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia, Petar Petkovic - who is in Brussels for the first meeting of the joint Kosovo-Serbia Commission for Missing Persons - described the action as an "attack" and said that "such terror calls into question the dialogue itself."

"It is clear why [Kosovo's chief negotiator, Besnik] Bislimi did not appear in Brussels today. I came with the Belgrade delegation with the aim of addressing the issue of missing persons today, while [Kosovo Prime Minister, Albin] Kurti and Pristina chose the path of violence and unilateral actions," Petkovic wrote on social media.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported earlier that Kosovo Police have entered the Serbian Post Office in Gracanica and the parallel municipality of Pristina, which has also operated in Gracanica since the war.

A yellow tape was placed in front of the Serbian Post building, and Radio Free Europe journalists report that, currently, police officers are inside these two institutions, while their employees are leaving the premises.

Kosovo Police said that the regional directorates of Pristina, Gjilan, Gjakova and South Mitrovica are conducting police operations, but did not confirm what operations they are referring to.

"After the completion of the police operation, additional information will be made public," the Kosovo Police response to REL states.

Other branches of the Serbian Post were also closed in the Serb-majority northern part of Kosovo on August 5 last year.

This move was criticized by the EU and the US, which at the time expressed "deep disappointment" and described the action as "unilateral and uncoordinated."

Many other Serbian institutions were also closed in similar actions by the Kosovo Police last year and at the beginning of this year.

However, Radio Free Europe recently reported that their work continues, despite the closure.

Which institutions were closed?

Kosovo Police closed the Tax Administration in North Mitrovica on January 8, which operated within the Serbian system, due to, as it was said, "illegal activities", as well as the Serbian insurance company "Dunav Osiguranje", due to suspicions that it was operating without a license.

Kosovo began closing Serbian institutions as early as January 2024, initially closing down the provisional municipal bodies of Dragash, Suhareka, Prizren, and Rahovec, which were located south of the Ibar River.

Then the provisional municipal bodies of Peja, Istog, Klina, Skenderaj were closed, as well as those in the municipalities in the north: North Mitrovica, Zvecan, Zubin Potok and Leposaviq.

Meanwhile, the branches of the Serbian Post in northern Kosovo, the vault of the National Bank of Serbia in Leposavic, the Postal Savings Bank, the Office for Kosovo of the Government of Serbia, the Directorate of the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund, the Kosovo-Mitrovicë Administrative District, and the Center for Social Work in Vushtrri were also closed.

All these institutions with thousands of employees operated in the Serbian system. /REL