Ethnic engineering in northern Kosovo - Do Serbs have a reason to fear Albanization?

For more than a year, Serbian municipalities in northern Kosovo have been governed by Albanian mayors who took power with just three percent of the vote. The plans of the Kosovo government could change this situation, but not by having the mayors work to gain the trust of the majority population; instead, as interlocutors from Kosovo Online warn, through ethnic engineering.

Written by: Petar Rosic

In North Mitrovica, Zubin Potok, Leposavic, and Zvecan, there are plans to build 200 houses intended for minority communities, as announced by the Minister of Local Government Administration, Elbert Krasniqi, in mid-month.

Halil Kastrati, the president of the "Orphans of the Balkans" association, which will share the costs of around four million euros with the ministry, told the media that the project's goal is to support and strengthen minority communities living in northern Kosovo, including Albanians, Bosniaks, and Turks.

The contract was signed three days after the Kosovo police halted work in the returnee settlement "Sunny Valley" in northern Kosovo. This settlement is an investment by the Serbian government in the municipality of Zvecan, initiated in 2016, and the authorities stated that the reason for the suspension was "because they were working without a permit."

Earlier this month, the Kosovo police raided and closed nine branches of the Serbian Post Office in four municipalities in northern Kosovo, and today the opening of Kosovo Post offices in North Mitrovica was announced, marking the first time this institution has operated within the Kosovo system.

A Kosovo Post advertisement was placed on a building on the promenade near the main bridge over the Ibar River, and workers were observed preparing the premises for the opening.

At the same time, the Kosovo Privatization Agency has begun awarding premises that were recently used by Serbs in the north to Albanian businessmen through tenders.

One such premise was opened yesterday in North Mitrovica. The building, which previously housed the Lazic butcher shop and market, is now a "Meridian Express" market, owned by Albanians.

Although the director, Anton Gasi, assures that they will do their best to treat all their customers equally, the local residents in the town on the Ibar River expressed to Kosovo Online their concerns about the implementation of these decisions. They believe that these actions artificially portray coexistence, but in reality, they are yet another form of pressure on the Serbs.

While some nostalgically speak of the good old days when everyone socialized together, others are worried about the future.

"It's hard, who knows what will happen. There are houses being built up there on Anka Spajic Hill. They block the road and won't move. A lot is going to happen, we're scared. We don't dare let our children play outside," says one resident.

Her fellow resident agrees that the situation is not good for the Serbs and emphasizes that "what he intends to do, he will do."

"It's negative for us. Where will the people go? From where? Where will we go? Will it succeed? Yes, because what he intends, he will do. It's a kind of pressure on the Serbs. I look at that bridge down there… let's see what will happen," he said.

Former President of the North Mitrovica Municipal Assembly, Nemanja Bisevac, has no doubt that behind the Pristina government's plan to build 200 houses for minorities lies an attempt to Albanize northern Kosovo.

"Certainly, this forced settlement of Albanians in the northern part of Kosovo signifies the Albanization of the north. However, I am sure that these attempts and settlements will not force the Serbian population to leave. We have been here for centuries and have endured constant threats from the south for 25 years. I believe that the Serbian people will persevere, and what's more important for all of us is that we will not abandon our homes," Bisevac told Kosovo Online.

He points out that, in addition to trying to build houses and settle Albanians, the Kosovo government has recently been allocating commercial premises in the north to Albanian businessmen.

"They hope to change the [ethnic] structure. I am confident that, despite their constant attempts, this will not affect our people and that we remain steadfast in our decision to stay in these areas," he emphasizes.

When asked whether the Privatization Agency's decision to allocate premises previously used by Serbs to Albanians might indicate that interethnic tensions have eased, he responds: "Quite the opposite."

"This is one of their key methods for driving out Serbs. They want to show that they have complete control over the north and that their businesses and products can easily meet all the needs of the Serbian population. The Serbian people are sufficiently aware and well-informed about the true situation," Bisevac asserts.

Dr. Petar Ristanovic, a Scientific Associate at the Institute for Serbian Culture in Leposavic, stated in an interview with Kosovo Online that there is a justified fear among Serbs in northern Kosovo due to the Kosovo government's plan, especially in the context of current tensions.

"I believe there is a reason for fear among Serbs if all of this is viewed in the context of broader events. If the situation in that area were normal, without tensions, the construction of houses for the poor and members of minority communities or the privatization of premises belonging to failed companies would be something completely usual and expected. But in the context of current events and the ongoing de facto attempts to force Serbs to leave, or to create such living conditions that an increasing number of Serbs decide to move out of the parts of Kosovo that are still predominantly inhabited by Serbs, then these events are indeed part of a broader policy that is not official, but we are all witnesses to its existence on the ground," said Ristanovic.

Commenting on the opening of Albanian businesses in the north, Ristanovic noted that business has always functioned well in Kosovo.

"As someone who studies the history of Kosovo during the period of communist Yugoslavia, when the situation was far more normal than it is today, I have witnessed through conversations with people and have often heard only words of praise for business cooperation with Albanians, especially in the private sector. The situation was similar in the 1990s. The conditions were extraordinary, the circumstances were extraordinary, but still, business functioned, work continued, and people cooperated even in those extraordinary circumstances," he said.

However, he points out that when the armed uprising and the war began, loyalty and cooperation disappeared overnight.

"Those lines of national division were very evident in 1998. Any loyalty and cooperation that existed in the earlier period practically vanished overnight. The fact that Albanians are opening businesses in northern Kosovo, under normal circumstances, would be something expected, even desirable, but when viewed in the context of current events, it raises and provokes caution and suspicion, even though we cannot say that every Albanian who opens a business has malicious intent," Ristanovic concluded.

Marko Blazic, a researcher at the Center for Social Stability, views the Pristina government's plan to build 200 houses in the north as another attempt by Albin Kurti to carry out a "silent storm" against the Serbs.

"There is certainly a reason for fear, especially since Albin Kurti has been at the helm of the provisional Pristina institutions. It is clear that he is implementing this model of a 'silent storm' to achieve his ultimate goal, which is an ethnically pure Kosovo and Metohija," he told Kosovo Online.

He added that Kurti's current focus is on the north, and the announcement of the opening of the bridge over the Ibar is precisely in service of this goal "to achieve full occupation of Kosovo."

"The illegal bases that are being built, and now we see the announcement of the construction of 200 houses for non-Serbs, again in Serbian areas, are all, I repeat, in the service of the occupation of the north to create an atmosphere of fear among Serbs so that they would leave their centuries-old homes, allowing Albin Kurti to achieve his goal of an ethnically pure Kosovo and Metohija," our interlocutor stated.

He pointed out that what is happening is discrimination aimed at altering the ethnic structure of these municipalities, particularly the north of Kosovo.

Blazic also views the decisions of the Privatization Agency, which has been awarding premises previously used by Serbs to Albanian businessmen south of the Ibar, in the same light.

"I believe this is a violent process, and if we examine each of these processes, they are accompanied by the presence of strong Kosovo police forces, the so-called Kosovo Security Forces, which, according to the Brussels Agreement, should not be present in northern Kosovo and Metohija without the approval of representatives of the Serbian community," Blazic said.

He added that these actions artificially portray a semblance of coexistence, but they actually serve a single purpose.

"That purpose is to carry out the Albanization of northern Kosovo and Metohija, the occupation of northern Kosovo, with the ultimate goal being to drive Serbs to leave their centuries-old homes. Every step you look at is in service of this goal. We can now chronologically go through a great number of these unilateral moves that Albin Kurti has made, and they all share one ultimate aim, which is precisely the departure and expulsion of Serbs," he emphasized.