"Land is being grabbed!"/ Serbia complains to the international community about plots in the North

2023-12-30 09:30:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

"Land is being grabbed!"/ Serbia complains to the international

Illustrative photo

The members of the Municipal Assembly of North Mitrovica have approved the proposal for the allocation of a plot of 27,400 square meters for the Kosovo Police, at the request of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kosovo.

According to the information of Radio Free Europe, the "Standard" Public Company, the Public Water Company and the Temporary Municipal Authority are located in that space.

All these institutions work according to the Serbian system.

The Director of the Office for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia, Petar Petkovic, has estimated that Pristina has "continued to grab land" in the municipality of North Mitrovica.

He said through a communique that the Kosovo authorities, without notice, public discussion or consultation with the citizens, have divided a large plot of municipal land where the institutions of Serbia are located, to create a "new police fortification" in the Serbian areas .

He announced that he has notified the international officials and that he is waiting for their reaction.

Petkovic added that more than 300 people are employed in the municipal enterprises "Standard" and "Ujjesjellësi", located in that plot, while the number of employees in the parallel municipality is significantly higher.

Petkovic has said that this is also an attempt to cause a new crisis in the north of Kosovo and thus to avoid the obligations of Pristina in establishing the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority, but also to hinder the process of dismissing the mayor, initiated by local Serbs.

Uglanin: The law was not violated

The Speaker of the North Mitrovica Municipality Assembly, Nexhat Uglanin, confirmed for Radio Free Europe that the plot given to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kosovo has several facilities where Serbian institutions are located as well as a sports hall, which is built with EU funds.

He said that "only one plot" was given to the Ministry of Interior, but he could not concretely answer what will happen to the existing facilities.

Uglanin said that according to his knowledge, a police station is planned to be built on the above-mentioned plot, because the current one is located in an object that belongs to the Trepca mine.

"According to the law, we voted for the use of the land, the facilities are not mentioned at all. This is being misused as if we voted for the demolition of buildings," he said.

According to him, the law was not violated by the fact that the plot was given to the MIA without a public hearing, and he added that even the former Municipal Assembly from the ranks of the Serbian List did not hold public hearings when making decisions.

"There was no debate or public discussion about the construction financed by Serbia, especially for the housing facility in the Bosniak Quarter, but it was an imposed solution," he said.

The reaction of the Serbian List

Lista Serbe, the largest party of Serbs in Kosovo, reacted against the decision of the local authorities in North Mitrovica, saying that the decision of the Municipal Assembly of North Mitrovica is "illegal".

Through an announcement, this party said that the decision was taken without any consultation or public discussion in which the citizens would have to participate, adding that the purpose of this decision is "to worsen the situation on the ground and put pressure on the Serbian population".

"Due to this decision, Lista Serbe will request an urgent meeting with the representatives of the international community, above all the ambassadors of QUINT and the European Union, and will request from them an urgent response to the intention of the regime in Pristina to cause tensions cloud and threat to the peace and security of our citizens", said Lista Serbe.

Meanwhile, the leader of the Serbian Democracy party, Aleksandar Arsenijevi?, wrote on Facebook that there is also a sports hall on this plot.

The North Mitrovica Municipality Assembly currently consists mainly of councilors from the Albanian community, because the Serbs boycotted the local elections in the north that were held in April. Also, this municipality with a Serbian majority is led by the mayor Erden Atiq, who comes from the party Vetëvendosje, which leads the Government of Kosovo.

Arsenijevi? has compared this decision of the Municipal Assembly of North Mitrovica to "occupation" and has warned that he will follow "all democratic and legal procedures to undo this illegal decision".

At the end of May, tensions rose in the four municipalities in the north of Kosovo - inhabited by a majority of Serbs - after the new Albanian mayors started work. An escalation of violence occurred in Zveçan, where protesters clashed with members of the NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, KFOR. Dozens of KFOR soldiers were injured in the May 29 protest.

Tensions came to a head on September 24, when an armed group of Serbs attacked the Kosovo Police, killing a policeman. During the clashes that followed in Banjska i Zveçani, three Serbian attackers were also killed.

The international community strongly condemned the attack and demanded that those responsible be brought to justice.
The responsibility for the attack was taken by Millan Radoicic, former vice-president of Lista Serbe, the main party of Serbs in Kosovo that enjoys the support of official Belgrade.

Kosovo blames the state of Serbia for the attack, but Belgrade denies involvement. /REL