Marsenic: Unregistered Serbs will be penalized, unclear whether 200,000 forcibly displaced are included

Sociologist at the Institute for European Studies, Marija Marsenic, is convinced that Kosovo institutions will penalize all those who did not participate in the census and questioned whether this measure would also apply to the 200,000 forcibly displaced people who were prevented from participating.

"This is no longer just about penalties related to the specific census. They are looking to exploit every opportunity to punish and harass Serbs. Whether it's through fines, stripping basic human rights, or resorting to open, often physical, violence, it doesn't matter to them. What matters is that Serbs are punished in every possible way, and unfortunately, I believe that this time they will not be able to avoid these penalties. Of course, when they have the opportunity to enforce these penalties, they will certainly not miss the chance to further harass and repress Serbs," Marsenic said.

The Acting Director of the Agency for Statistics, Avni Kastrati, stated yesterday that around 36,000 Serbs were registered in the census and that all those who were not would be penalized.

"This raises the question of what we will do with the 200,000 forcibly displaced Serbs. Are we going to penalize them, and how will we go about it? I think this is a significantly large number, and I don't know how this could be implemented," Marsenic emphasized.