Kurti in the north destroyed any chance for institutional coexistence of the Serbs and Albanians

Yesterday's action by the Kosovo Police in the north and the violent seizure of buildings in the municipalities of Leposavic, Zvecan, and Zubin Potok, in which dozens of citizens were injured, with the use of tear gas and shock bombs, is just one more in a series of violent moves by Kosovo institutions against the Serbs since coming to power of Prime Minister Albin Kurti. Admonitions from the international community, harsh or mild, barricades, and the exit of the Serbs from institutions have so far had no influence on Kurti to change his political method and attitude towards Kosovo Serbs.

The interlocutors of Kosovo Online assess that the verbal condemnation of Kurti's actions is something that does not produce results, but also that after yesterday's action by the authorities in Pristina, it destroyed all hopes for a joint institutional life of the Serbs and Albanians.

President of the Association of Journalists of Serbia and writer from Gracanica, Zivojin Rakocevic is of the opinion that the current condemnation of the international community is only declarative.

"It serves to appease the Serbs and to justify them in front of the public if there is an escalation of the conflict. The politics of what is seen as the international community always has multiple faces and messages. Until now they were told, “Sign agreements and never implement anything!”. Now they are told, “Occupy your municipalities according to the law and we will condemn you, and then we will jointly manage the crisis!”. The Serbs in the South went through this process and now, ethnically cleansed from the cities, they live in ghettos. The international community - despite this experience - is allowing the last action of the Albanians in the north decided to fatally threaten those ten streets of the only city we have left," Rakocevic says.

According to him, by giving up democracy and respecting the minimum of human rights, Kurti's hands were freed.

"And he ends his fight and the final reckoning. He sees himself as a man who corrects what Thaci, Haradinaj, and the commanders of the KLA did not do. His cynicism and intolerance are so great that he cannot even congratulate Easter to the Serbs without humiliating them." Rakocevic evaluates.

Rakocevic adds that yesterday's action in the north is the final abandonment of any hope for institutional coexistence.

"It is completely clear that everyone must have their own system, and that all the concessions made by Belgrade in the past twenty years have been a fiasco and turned into a sign of Serbian weakness," Rakocevic points out.

He adds that the Albanian mayors in North Mitrovica, Zvecan, Leposavic, and Zubin Potok have nothing to look for there.

"Well, let the Serbs shower them with flowers. Instead of talking about tens of thousands of returnees to Pristina and Prizren, we have mayors in armored cars and their fingers on the trigger. They won't even be able to sweep the entrance to the municipality, and their every decision will start a new cycle of discrimination, violence, and humiliation. On the other hand, it will establish awareness that the Serbs will finally create functional ghetto communities, preserve themselves and their heritage, get the best professors and doctors, and thus await system changes and the arrival of freedom," Rakocevic said.

The President of the Center for Social Stability, Ognjen Karanovic, said that he did not expect the Quint countries to react more significantly to the constant incidents in the north of Kosovo and the actions of Kurti, except that representatives of the international community verbally condemned the intrusion of police forces into the municipalities in the north of Kosovo.

"In the first place, it is clear that the Quint countries will not react to the outbursts of Albin Kurti and the Albanian separatist and terrorist movement in Kosovo and Metohija. I believe that they will react only in one case, and that is if Kurti takes measures that would mean a pogrom because the Quint countries are aware that Serbia and President Aleksandar Vucic will respond adequately. I believe that in that case, the Quint countries will react primarily out of personal interests," Karanovic said.

He assessed that the mayors in the north of Kosovo would not be able to perform their duties.

"How will the so-called mayors in the north perform their so-called duties, if we see that they can only enter municipal buildings in full military gear and stay for a few minutes at a time? This shows that there is nothing from the Albanian administration in the north," Karanovic said.

Karanovic added that if "this kind of semblance of democracy and respect for human rights" was acceptable for the Quint countries, nothing would change on the ground.

"The Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, and that implies the north, must know and know that they have only one country, Serbia, which is always with them," Karanovic said.

He believes that difficult challenges await Serbia in the continuation of the dialogue with Pristina.

"Dialogue will be obstructed both by Albanian nationalists and by Western centers of political power that support Albanian separatists. I believe that, as before, we will show, led by President Vucic, that we have statesmanship and awareness, that we will not allow ourselves to be provoked with knowledge and clear agenda that the red lines will never be crossed," Karanovic says.

He states that he expects the Kosovo authorities to continue with their inappropriate reactions in the north.

"They will continue with provocations in the north, and we will insist on the formation of the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities, and until that happens, the Serbs will use the institutions of the Serbian state, as they have done so far," Karanovic concludes.