Graffiti “KLA” and “Albania” scrawled on kindergarten and clinic in Dobrotin; Joksimovic: Residents disturbed

Source: Kosovo Online

Graffiti reading “Free Palestine” were written today on the “Sunce” kindergarten in Dobrotin by a man who spoke English as well as Albanian, while children were present inside the facility. The same individual also spray-painted “KLA,” “Albania,” and “Free Gaza” on the outpatient clinic of the Donja Gusterica Health Center in the same locality.
A kindergarten teacher, Mirjana Cirkovic, said that she and her colleagues were in the kindergarten with around ten children when they noticed a person writing on the wall.

“Today a man came to the kindergarten. I was here with my colleagues and the children—there were three of us educators—around 1:30 p.m. We went outside to see what was happening because we saw him start writing on the wall. While he was writing, he spoke in English, saying that children are innocent and good. He was not aggressive. It lasted a few minutes and then he drove away. There were the three of us and the children, and we did not feel at ease; we did not know what he might do if we confronted him. We tried to remain as calm as possible. He spoke in English and said something in Albanian that I did not understand,” Cirkovic said.

The President of the Lipljan Provisional Authority, Milan Joksimovic, stressed that it was no coincidence that a health and an educational institution had been targeted.
“This is yet another form of pressure on the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija. We are here with the residents to support them; as we have done so far, we will continue to fight to remain and endure in these areas. We will not be intimidated. People are disturbed, and we hope that there will be no more serious incidents,” Joksimovic said.
He added that this was not the first such case, recalling that graffiti reading “KLA” had appeared on street poles in Dobrotin two months ago.
“The police did not react, and now we are seeing this again,” Joksimovic said.

The Director of the Donja Gusterica Health Center, Sasa Mladenovic, stated that clinic staff informed him of the graffiti around 1:30 p.m. and that they were visibly distressed and frightened.
“I would like to condemn this act of vandalism. As you can see, we are a health institution, concerned solely with providing medical care. I do not know whom we could offend. We serve Serbs, Albanians, and all other communities alike as a health facility. Believe me, this casts a negative image on all of us and creates unnecessary tension,” Mladenovic said.
According to him, residents told him that the person who wrote the graffiti is known to them and comes from a neighboring village.
“I condemn this kind of pressure on the health system, on the entire population, on the central enclave, on all citizens of Kosovo and Metohija—especially the Serbian community. This is inappropriate and deeply disturbing for all of us,” Mladenovic said.

A local resident, Dragan Curcic, said that the incident had greatly unsettled the community.
“This is extremely disturbing for our village. An institution that is not political and provides assistance to everyone was targeted, and what is even more dangerous is that he entered a kindergarten—children were frightened, as was the staff. The man was shouting; everyone is scared. It is a very unpleasant incident. I do not know whether the police will take steps to prevent this kind of hooliganism,” Curcic said.