Mijacic: Closure of temporary authorities an act of brutal force, not the integration of the Serbian community

Dragisa Mijacic, the coordinator of the National Convention for Chapter 35, stated in reference to the month since the takeover of Serbian institutions in northern Kosovo that it was an unwanted but expected event and an act of brutal force that does not contribute to the normalization and integration of the Serbian community.

"The closure of provisional institutions was an unwanted event that could have been expected given all that had transpired before. Chapter 35 mentions that Serbia would dismantle the provisional bodies, but this was expected to happen after the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities. Here we see that things are not happening in parallel; on the one hand, Serbian institutions that provide services to citizens are being closed, while on the other, there are no processes leading to the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities," Mijacic said for Kosovo Online.

He points out the absurdity that the authorities in Pristina shut down public utility services that they themselves also use.

"Public utility services in the northern municipalities of Kosovo are exclusively provided by institutions financed by the Republic of Serbia. These services, such as garbage and waste collection, are not only provided to the citizens but also to Kosovo institutions that generate the waste. In other words, even the special police present in northern Kosovo, when they produce waste, it is collected by the very institutions they are trying to shut down. There is no alternative to these institutions, which means this kind of unilateral closure is an act of brute force, not an act of normalization or an attempt to integrate the Serbian population into the Kosovo system through mechanisms that would be acceptable to all," Mijacic emphasized.

He expresses doubt that, despite the demands from the Brussels dialogue, authority could be returned to the provisional local government bodies.

He stresses the critical importance of ensuring that institutions related to education, social welfare, and healthcare are not shut down.

"It is also very important to create a framework for local municipal services that must function in accordance with the interests of the citizens. These include public utility services. In the Kosovo system, there is no institution that provides these types of services to citizens, and without such services, another major problem will arise," Mijacic warned.

He believes that the decision to close the provisional institutions is a result of Pristina's inability to reopen the main bridge on the Ibar River.

"It was expected that some other unilateral action, that is, an uncoordinated action with international bodies, would take place. This happened with regard to the provisional bodies," Mijacic said.

He warns that such actions could continue in the future, especially with Kosovo entering the campaign period for the elections scheduled for February 9 next year.

"Given that the election campaign is beginning, we all have concerns that similar actions could occur, involving other institutions or unwanted effects for the citizens in northern Kosovo. The international community is trying, through dialogue with the Kosovo authorities, to prevent such actions. It is also attempting to curb such behavior with sanctions. But we see that there hasn't been much progress in curbing the unilateral actions led by Albin Kurti's government," Mijacic concluded.