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Allegations of layoffs in Serbian institutions in Kosovo/ Five people in custody

2026-05-19 20:02:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The Basic Prosecution Office in Pristina announced that five people have been detained for "violating the free will of voters in Gracanica", a Serb-majority municipality in Kosovo.

These arrests occurred after the acting minister in the Kosovo Government, Nenad Raši?, accused the Serbian List of "pressure" and "intimidation" against its supporters, calling on the competent Kosovo institutions to react.

According to the announcement, the Prosecution acted ex officio following media reports on the claims of Rashiq, who is the leader of the "For Freedom, Justice and Survival" party.

Radio Free Europe (RFE/RL) on May 18 published testimonies of several people who said they were fired because they did not support the Serbian List, but Raši?'s party.

They had worked for decades in Serbia's health and education institutions in Kosovo, which in recent years have been run mainly by members and officials of the Serbian List – the main Serb party in Kosovo that operates with the support of official Belgrade.

"By decision of the State Prosecutor, five (5) persons, citizens of the Republic of Kosovo, of Serbian nationality, have been detained, as they are suspected of committing the criminal offense 'Violation of the free determination of voters' under Article 210 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kosovo ," the announcement states.

It is further added that the Prosecution has collected statements and evidence based on which it is suspected that the arrested persons were involved in illegal activities related to this criminal offense.

Serbian List claims it is about "forced integration"

The reaction of the Serbian List was immediate. Its official, Igor Simi?, said at a press conference that directors of health and educational institutions had been arrested, and that Nenad Raši? “participated most directly in this, because he targeted Serbs.” He assessed that in this way a “violent integration” of health and educational institutions was being carried out.

These institutions in Serbian environments operate within the Serbian system and are almost the only ones left, as over the last two years all the others have been closed by the Kosovo authorities, with the justification that they are "parallel and illegal".

The issue of integrating Serbian healthcare and education in Kosovo was raised in September last year, when Prime Minister Albin Kurti declared that the dual system is not sustainable and that "their incorporation and unification" is needed.

"These arrests today have nothing to do with the elections, this is an attempt to attack Serbian healthcare and education and on the other hand, if we talk about the elections, to help Nenad Raši? to forcefully win the votes of the Serbian people," said Simi?.

He stated that "sanctioned" employees in Serbian institutions who have lost their jobs have the right to appeal, and that the directors "have performed their duties with honor."

There were also reactions from the authorities in Serbia. Deputy Prime Minister and Serbian Minister of Internal Affairs, Ivica Dacic, stated that “all persons whose actions contributed to the detention of five Serbs, directors of health and educational institutions of the Republic of Serbia from the central part of Kosovo, will be prosecuted and sanctioned in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Serbia,” the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs announced.

In several dismissal decisions, which REL has seen, it is stated that employees have publicly expressed their political beliefs for a longer period of time, contrary to "the interests for which the Serbian population in Kosovo is defined, which lives in an institutional system that the Republic of Serbia does not recognize."

Raši?, at a meeting of the acting Government of Kosovo on May 14, stated that around 20 people who support him have been dismissed from their jobs and that in the coming period, around 40 more people are expected to receive decisions to dismiss them from their jobs in the territory of the Gra?anica municipality alone.

Raši? also claimed that his party's supporters and members are being stopped at border crossings with Serbia by the Serbian Security and Intelligence Agency (BIA), where they are asked who they will vote for in the June 7 snap parliamentary elections in Kosovo.

The Serbian List denied these claims, saying that Rasic has no legitimacy and is trying to "excuse" his defeat in the upcoming elections.

In the last elections, held in December last year, the Serbian List won nine of the ten parliamentary seats reserved for the Serb community, while Raši?'s party won one seat.

REL also contacted the Office for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Health with questions about whether they are aware of the allegations of dismissals for political reasons in Serbian environments in Kosovo, and whether they will take concrete steps. There was no response.

In the June 7 elections, the Serbian List will have as its only opponent the party of Raši?, who on two occasions has been Minister for Communities and Returns in the Government of Albin Kurti. /REL