Mijacic: Law on Foreigners devastating for Serbs, Sorensen should state his position on the CSM

The Coordinator of the National Convention for Chapter 32, Dragisa Mijacic, stated that the implementation of the Law on Foreigners should be postponed until Pristina establishes the Community of Serb Municipalities, and called on the EU Special Representative for the Belgrade–Pristina Dialogue, Peter Sorensen, to clarify whether the CSM remains a priority in his work, RTV reports.

Mijacic said that the Law on Foreigners could have devastating consequences for the Serbian community in Kosovo and pointed out that everything taking place under the guise of adopting laws on foreigners and vehicles represents a blow to the healthcare and education systems.

According to him, if healthcare and education institutions do not exist in their current format, this would mean the disappearance of the Serbian community from Kosovo.

"I think this is a decisive moment when we all have an obligation to raise our voices against this and to say what will happen. If there is no clear answer on how to prevent this type of integration by the government of Kosovo, I fear there will be no survival for us in that area," Mijacic said.

He stated that the Serb List today invited representatives of the healthcare and education sectors to a meeting at which, in his view, everyone should attend and present proposals on how to survive in Kosovo under such circumstances.

Mijacic assessed that the constitutionality of the Law on Foreigners is not being disputed, but that it changes the multiethnic character of Kosovo, and that the question is whether Kosovo will remain a multiethnic territory, which, as he says, was a demand of those who advocated for its independence, or whether it will become a monoethnic territory in which one people will disappear.

"I think that Marko Djuric should go to Brussels to speak with EU representatives and clearly ask them what their position is regarding the key issue related to the survival of Serbs in this area," Mijacic said.

He added that it is most important to preserve the institutions that are, as he said, of vital importance to the Serbian people in Kosovo, and added that there is no possibility of granting extraterritorial status to healthcare and education institutions.

Mijacic stated that the question arises whether the establishment of the CSM remains a priority in Sorensen’s work, about which, he says, he has never expressed a position, and recalled that the EU undertook the obligation to secure the establishment of the CSM.

"First, the CSM should be established, within which the healthcare and education system would be legalized," Mijacic said, Tanjug reports.

Commenting on the statement by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas that she is ready to host a high-level meeting between Belgrade and Pristina soon, Mijacic said he does not see what could be discussed under the current circumstances if the implementation of the Law on Foreigners is not postponed and the issue of legalizing healthcare and education is not resolved.

Mijacic added that it is not known who will head the negotiating team from Pristina after Kurti formed the new government, and noted that former chief negotiator Besnik Bislimi is not among the ministers, which, in his assessment, indicates that Bislimi will probably not deal with issues of importance to the dialogue or that the government in Pristina will lower the dialogue to a lower level.

Speaking about Kurti’s new government, Mijacic assessed that it will be a government of continuity, primarily regarding pressure on the Serbian community, and that he does not expect major changes.

He also pointed out that by appointing Nenad Rasic as Minister for Communities and Return, the constitution was violated because the ministerial post belonged to the Serb List, which holds the majority of Serbian MPs, and noted that unconstitutional practice has become part of political practice in Pristina.