Antic: CBK's decision institutional terror by Kosovo authorities; our scholarship recipients are also affected

Branko Antic, the director of the humanitarian organization "Serbian Solidarity," stated that due to the decision made by the Central Bank of Kosovo to prohibit transactions in dinars, young Serbs in Kosovo would encounter significant difficulties in accessing the scholarships sent to them by the organization, particularly those residing in enclaves.

He emphasized that "Serbian Solidarity" conducted 95 percent of its activities in Kosovo.

"One of the ways we aid our people in remaining and surviving in their ancestral homes is by providing scholarships to our young heroes from enclaves in Kosovo. We aim to assist their parents and them in their desire and hope to stay and thrive for the betterment of their education, purchasing school supplies, computers, literature, and travel. We sponsor talented students and athletes, as well as children from large families and socially disadvantaged families," Antic said.

He added that their organization supported 23 scholarship recipients, to whom they transferred funds through the Postal Savings Bank.

"It will be difficult for parents to withdraw these scholarships that we, as an organization, disburse. Since we have parents throughout the entire territory of Kosovo, whose children come from Strpce, Sirinicka Zupa, Gorazdevac, Osojane – imagine the distance they have to travel to withdraw dinars. The temporary Kosovo authorities continue their institutional terror in this manner. When you deprive our people down there of their means of living, they are compelled to consider other matters, including relocation, God forbid," our interlocutor emphasized.

He pointed out that they would face challenges in their operations and usual activities because their room for maneuvering and assisting our people would be limited.

"In any action we undertake, we transfer funds to our people in dinar-denominated accounts. Now, if someone from our population living in our southern province goes to open an account at a foreign bank located there, they will be asked the reason for opening the account. They will have to say whether it's a pension, a social benefit, our scholarship, or some humanitarian aid. They will be asked where they receive it from, and when they find out it's from the Republic of Serbia, they'll say they don't have payment transactions. All of this poses a problem, primarily for our people. Like the state, we will find a way to transfer funds. Just as the state found a way to transfer dinars, when one method wasn't possible, they used another. We heard yesterday how they managed to do it," Antic said.

Regarding their plans due to the situation with the dinar, he emphasized that they had initially approached the Government of the Republic of Serbia, primarily the Ministry of Finance, the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, and the National Bank of Serbia.

"We have reached out to all of them, as well as the banks that operated there, to see how we can proceed with our operations and what we can do, to receive advice and guidance on the procedure. We are awaiting responses in the coming days to determine how and through which channels we can continue to assist our people in Kosovo and Metohija," Antic concluded.