Milovic refutes Hovenier: We have not received medicines or medical supplies for months

The Deputy Director of the Clinical Hospital Center Kosovska Mitrovica, Dragisa Milovic, said for Kosovo Online that the statement made yesterday by the US Ambassador in Pristina, Jeffrey Hovenier, that medicines from Serbia were arriving in Kosovo unhindered, did not correspond to the situation on the ground, and that this health institution had not received any medicines for months, after Pristina's decision on ban on the import of goods, nor the material they needed for normal functioning.

Milovic pointed out that the rights of all patients were threatened, regardless of whether they were Serbs or Albanians.

"With all due respect to Mr. Hovenier, I must say that the reality on the ground is something completely different. Not only since June 14, when Pristina unilaterally decided to stop goods from central Serbia, but also before, the Clinical Hospital Center in Kosovska Mitrovica has not received any medicine, IV solution, bandages. or medical supplies. What worries us is that our patients, diabetics, oncology patients, and children who are sick suffer because of this decision. In a word, we have 500 beds here and all our patients who need care and medicine suffer because of this decision," Milovic said.

He reminded that the decision on the import ban referred not only to medicines but also to basic foodstuffs and called on the international community to use its authority to influence the cancellation of Pristina's decision.

"This ban deprives us of the opportunity to purchase basic foodstuffs that our patients use, primarily meat, milk, and dairy products. Such an unreasonable decision does not make the life and treatment of our citizens easier, which is difficult enough, and such a decision does not contribute to calming the situation on the ground but harms both the Serbs and the Albanians. I call on all representatives of the international community, including Mr. Hovenier, whom I highly value and respect, to influence Pristina to cancel such a decision," Milovic said.

Milovic emphasized that for now, they managed to take care of all patients, relying on the supplies they had.

"Due to annual vacations, the number of patients is currently slightly lower. But, in the event of a greater need for patient care, the question is whether and how much we can withstand. I would like to mention that we had an understanding from Pristina for one contingent of 20 oxygen pallets, which was the daily consumption at the time of COVID-19. That's how much we managed to get in all this time when it comes to medicines and medical supplies. Only 20 pallets of oxygen and nothing more than that," Milovic said.

The US Ambassador to Kosovo, Jeffrey Hovenier, said yesterday that according to his understanding of the situation, medicines from central Serbia were being imported as they had been before June 14, when the Government of Kosovo had decided to block Serbian goods.