Kosovo Police raid sports hall in North Mitrovica, Kovac: They’re denying children their basic rights

Members of the Kosovo Police entered the Sports Hall in North Mitrovica today around 3:00 p.m. during a children’s training session, ordering everyone to leave the facility.

Dozens of police officers demanded the immediate evacuation of the hall, causing outrage among staff and fear among the children who were present for their regular activities.

Currently, Kosovo Police officers—some armed with long guns—remain stationed outside the building, along with the Sports Hall’s employees.

The director of the facility, Goran Kovac, told Kosovo Online that the police arrived shortly before 3:00 p.m., accompanied by municipal officials and inspectors from the northern Kosovo municipality.

"When I arrived, the officers were visibly hostile. I asked why they were doing this. One of them was particularly rude and tried to pull me aside for a conversation,” Kovac said.

He described the scene he found inside the hall as deeply disturbing:

“When I went upstairs, I saw that all the pictures of our sports heroes—like Novak Djokovic, swimmer Cavic, and Aleksandar ‘Sasa’ Djordjevic—had been taken down. They had even torn up the photo of Branko Djordjevic, a humanitarian who did so much for the people of Kosovo and Metohija. When I asked why they were doing this and why they chose to come at that time—since they had the entire day and I was away at Palic—they said they didn’t want to speak Albanian. I’ve lived here for over 20 years and I can speak Albanian, but I wanted to speak Serbian, because that is my basic right. After that, they softened a bit and told me they were taking over the hall on orders from the northern municipality, claiming everything would remain as it was, and that I just needed to sign a record of the event and meet them at the municipality office tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. to provide a training schedule and list of employees,” Kovac explained.

He also expressed skepticism and concern about the future of the facility:

"I reminded them that when they took over the water company, they also said everything would remain the same—but the next day, they threw everyone out. They had no response. They said they didn’t want any publicity or conflict. I told them: tomorrow, a thousand children will be standing at this door demanding their right to play sports and live here. We’ll see what happens. I have more to say, but I don’t want to escalate or provoke them unnecessarily. If tomorrow things are not as promised, we’ll hold a press conference and reveal exactly what happened today,” he said.

Kovac also said that police refused to give him a written record of the event, despite his request.

“I asked for the report, but they acted as if they didn’t know what I was talking about. Then they started pulling out papers and insisted I had to sign something. I asked to see it in Serbian, my native language, because I have the right to that. One of their officers began behaving strangely, questioning why she should have to speak Serbian... I don’t want to jump to conclusions now. They’ve summoned me tomorrow morning to submit the training schedule and employee list. But I doubt everything will stay the same,” Kovac concluded.