Marinkovic: Greater KFOR presence needed in the north for Serbs to receive some form of protection

Miodrag Marinkovic, the executive director of the non-governmental organization Center for Affirmative Social Actions (CASA), stated today that everything happening in northern Kosovo demands that KFOR move from its current passive role to provide some form of protection for the Serbian community. He noted that KFOR is, in this sense, the only armed force that the Serbian community trusts.

The CASA organization is one of several NGOs that have issued a public appeal to KFOR to urgently establish checkpoints in front of institutions that serve the majority population in the north, and Marinkovic points out that these organizations believe KFOR should be more extensively deployed on the streets in northern Kosovo.

"It should be positioned near some key institutions, not schools, because we don't want soldiers near schools, but at some key locations in the north, such as hospitals, on the main street in Kosovska Mitrovica, and perhaps with an increased number of patrols in Serbian areas. We have dramatic footage of the arrest of four young people from a few nights ago, where the use of excessive force was evident. If KFOR had been nearby, they could have prevented such incidents and observed them," Marinkovic told Kosovo Online.

He reminds that KFOR acts as a third-instance response to security threats, with the first being the Kosovo Police and the second being EULEX, but emphasizes that the first instance, the Kosovo Police, is actually causing security threats to the Serbian community in northern Kosovo.

"So, the entire system of operation is undermined when those directly responsible for the security of the Serbian community in Kosovo are actually the ones threatening it. We have had many instances of excessive force, cases of shootings at passersby, and daily reports of police in the north behaving arrogantly and rudely. In such a situation, it is essential that the Serbian community receive some form of protection. KFOR is currently the only force that the Serbian community trusts for such protection, and that was the basis of our request," Marinkovic explained.

He says that since 1999, KFOR has been the only armed formation that the Serbian community has had some degree of trust in.

"The situation has drastically changed in the last year or two, especially in the north, due to the brutal behavior of Kurti’s police, which is under direct control of the Kosovo government, and the complete inability of Belgrade to prevent such actions. In this situation, the Serbian community increasingly turns to KFOR as an armed force that has already proven to be a form of guarantee for the safety of the Serbian community in Kosovo, especially in the north, as the Serbian community survived there in 1999 thanks to KFOR," Marinkovic said.

When asked if he expects KFOR to respond to their appeal, he said that things do not work that way and that a whole decision-making system is required, in which civil society has no role, however, it is up to them to seek and propose functional solutions that enable the survival of the Serbian community on the ground.

"This was the main motive for our statement and the main motive for our actions in countless meetings with the international community to propose the idea that KFOR must assume greater responsibilities in northern Kosovo," he said.

He adds that such an expectation cannot be placed on EULEX, although it is mandated to monitor the Kosovo Police.

"Their role is currently completely undefined. They are very passive, they fear Pristina, they fear Kurti, they fear disrupting the existing relations among them, so in that sense, they are completely ineffective for normal life in northern Kosovo. I even think there is no longer a need for EULEX in this format in Kosovo," Marinkovic concluded.