Milovic: Beating of Raskovic shows the conditions we live in, northern Kosovo under police occupation

Inflicting serious injuries on Nenad Raskovic by police officers is the clearest indication of the conditions in which Serbs live in Kosovo, Zvecan Mayor and Serb List Vice President Dragisa Milovic said, stating that Albin Kurti, who is apparently comfortable with the chaotic situation in Pristina, has resorted to “bare terror” in northern Kosovo because he is unable to offer new jobs or economic progress.

“Inflicting serious physical and psychological injuries on Nenad Raskovic, including broken ribs at the hands of police officers, speaks in the clearest possible way about the conditions in which we live in Kosovo and Metohija. And this is just one example. Twenty-seven years have passed since the deaths of the 14 harvesters, and a few days ago we marked 23 years since the killing of Serbian boys on the Bistrica River, and in all these cases, unfortunately, the perpetrators have not been punished. I believe that this incident involving Nenad will unfortunately end the same way. Experience tells us that. The man who shot a boy on Christmas Eve is now free,” Milovic told TV Prva.

He emphasized that he is concerned by the silence and passivity of international representatives, who, he recalled, are there under UN Security Council Resolution 1244 to protect citizens, above all EULEX and KFOR.

“They issue statements and, surprisingly, call on both sides to exercise restraint. One side is terrorizing you, beating you, assaulting you, and you call on both sides to exercise restraint. That is the reality in which we live,” Milovic observed.

He added that they point out the difficult situation to international representatives on a daily basis.

“When I came to the devastated municipality of Zvecan, I also had the opportunity to speak with the KFOR commander, ambassadors of the Quint countries, and representatives of the US Embassy. We told all of them about this. That six years of Kurti's rule have been reduced to nothing more than arrests, expulsion, and persecution of Serbs. I pointed out that not only have those expelled in 1999 failed to return, more than 250,000 Serbs, but even now, in the presence of international representatives, Serbs are leaving these areas. Nearly 20 percent have left the north, the four municipalities where 97 percent of the population is Serbian,” Milovic said.

He particularly noted that it is not only people looking for work who are leaving, but also those who already have jobs, especially doctors, because they see no future, do not feel safe, and are worried about what the next move from Pristina will be.

Asked why brutality against Serbs is increasing, Milovic said that Kurti has never concealed his policy toward the Serbian people, having said in the past that they would “suffer and pay,” while labeling them criminals and terrorists.

“This is nothing new, we know whose student he is. But it seems that the political chaos and disorder in Pristina suit him, and since he has no jobs to offer and cannot boast of economic improvements, he has resorted to bare terror in the north,” Milovic said.

He noted that during Kurti's six years in power, two police bases and more than 20 police stations and substations have been built in the north, while not a single new job, kindergarten, or sports field has been created.

“Only police bases. We are under police occupation in the north. The chaotic, disorderly situation in Pristina suits him, and for him this is an opportunity to bring the story of the Serbs to an end. Those who were expelled are not returning, some are being prosecuted for alleged war crimes, while those who have remained living on their ancestral lands are asking for basic human rights guaranteed to them by international conventions. And even that we cannot obtain in this situation. And all of this is being viewed favorably by EULEX, KFOR, UNMIK, OSCE, and many international representatives who have been in Kosovo since 1999,” Milovic concluded.