Office for Kosovo and Metohija: The Pavlovic family from Belo Polje has been facing pressure for months

The Office for Kosovo and Metohija stated that the residents of the returning village of Belo Polje near Pec were disturbed after a fire had broken out in the house of the returning Pavlovic family, as there were reasonable suspicions that the fire had been deliberately set.

"The residents of this returning community are disturbed by this incident because there are reasonable suspicions that the fire at the house was deliberate, considering that the property of the Pavlovic family has been set on fire twice in the past, and the family has been facing pressures for months to sell their property to a local Albanian," the Office stated.

As they added, the recently deceased Blagoje Pavlovic and his wife, who still lives on their estate in Belo Polje, faced constant pressure from local Albanians to sell their property, which they persistently refused to do, determined to stay and survive on their homestead.

The owner was not in the house at the time of the fire, and the Office for Kosovo and Metohija will assist in repairing the damage to the property.

"Violence against the Serbian people, especially returnees who are the most vulnerable category, as they live in small communities and often in hostile environments, has become an almost everyday occurrence in Kosovo and Metohija, with the aim of completely removing Serbs and erasing traces of Serbian existence from those areas," the statement adds.

The Office for Kosovo and Metohija calls on the international community to increase its presence in predominantly Serbian areas.

"On this occasion, we demand that international forces in Kosovo and Metohija increase their presence in predominantly Serbian areas, especially in isolated returning communities, because at this moment, it is the only thing that can deter attackers and extremists from assaulting Serbs and their property. We will inform international instances about this incident, as well as all other problems and difficulties that the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija face because the suffering and hardships to which Serbs are exposed in Kosovo and Metohija must not and will not be swept under the rug," the statement from the Office for Kosovo and Metohija concludes.