Debate on expropriation in Leposavic: For what purposes are you taking our land? We want to use our property

At today's discussion on land expropriation in Leposavic, the main message was that none of the citizens believed in the sincere intentions that the confiscated land would be used for something of public interest, and the representatives of the Serbian community expressed their fear that a military barracks would be built on that area.

Lawyer Nebojca Vlajic, in a conversation with representatives from Pristina, government official Afrim Murati, expropriation officer Samir Bruqi and geodesy expert Leontina Ademaj, pointed out that people did not know for what purposes their land was being confiscated.

"You didn't tell us what was going to be built there so that we could file an appeal against that decision. Will an amusement park or a police base be built there?" Vlajic said.

He recalled that the policeman who had spoken to the locals said that he had been providing the machines and that there would be a border police base in that place.

Vlajic: What good a barracks in a small village will bring?

"Whether it's a police or military base, it's called a barracks. What's the use of a barracks in a small village, who will benefit from it and what is the public interest for the citizens of its construction? The law says that the expropriation procedure is subject to strict restrictions, procedures, rules, and conditions that are legally determined. The government started this expropriation by not following a single rule or procedure set by the regulations and it cannot be done that way and it is a violation of human rights," Vlajic said.

He believes that the citizens are rightfully outraged and that no one informed them in a timely manner.

"Give me an example where the government of Kosovo started digging on someone else's land with excavators without anyone being informed, that never happened anywhere. People in Dren woke up and saw heavy machines plowing their land. Citizens are rightly outraged, they have nowhere to get information. The government hides everything and is silent, and does not even inform the local self-government," Vlajic said.

Vlajic reminded that all "cities were built with the help of expropriation", because households had been confiscated, and families had gotten apartments in buildings built on that site.

"An old brick house is demolished and a skyscraper is built. It is in the public interest, and the owner of the house gets an apartment, and what will these people get - a barracks 5-10 meters from their yard, where dozens of vehicles tour their motors every day, where hundreds of policemen will work day and night; they will get spotlights to shine all night long. It will lead to the point that they will not be able to let a female child into the yard," Vlajic pointed out.

Citizens want to use their property

Vlajic says that a lawsuit has been filed and that the citizens demand that the expropriation be stopped.

He explained that they wanted to use their property unhindered.

"The lawsuit was filed for clear reasons to suspend the decision on expropriation, even if it is out of force. These people are not interested in compensation, they did not sue because they want money, but they filed the lawsuit because they want to cancel the actions performed, to that the police, construction machines, and everyone else be removed from their places and that they are allowed to use their land as they have been doing so far," Vlajic said.

The introductory speech given by the representative of the Kosovo government, Afrim Murati, lasted half an hour, and in that monologue, he tried to explain to the people what expropriation meant and what the benefit of expropriation for the local population was.

What he most often mentioned was that earlier expropriations that had been carried out throughout Kosovo had been for the purpose of building roads, schools, and clinics, but he did not say that so far no land had been expropriated to build police or military bases.