Petkovic: Pristina's ultimatum for the eviction of Serbian institutions may lead to a deepening of the crisis in the north

Today, the Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, sent an urgent message to the international community, including the Quint countries and the mediator in the dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, in which he warned that the ultimatum on the eviction of Serbian institutions from the building in Bosniak Mahala could lead to a deepening of the crisis in the north of Kosovo and an additional increase in tensions on the ground, RTV reports.

The deadline for the eviction of the building in which the premises of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, the directorate of the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund, the Center for Social Work Vucitrn, and the Kosovska Mitrovica Administrative District are located, which was extended by two weeks, and which was set by the mayor of Kosovska Mitrovica Erden Atiq, expires tomorrow, September 8.

In the latest letter that Petkovic sent to several addresses, and which Tanjug had access to, the Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija pointed out that such unilateral and illegitimate moves by Pristina and Albin Kurti did not contribute to de-escalation in the north, but on the contrary - they represented a new dangerous provocation that only had the goal of threatening the rights and life of the Serbs in the north of Kosovo and further destabilized the situation on the ground.

In this regard, the letter appeals to the international community to take this issue with the greatest possible care and caution and to use their authority to prevent "the dramatic escalation that Kurti and Atiq want to cause with the illegal decision to evict Serbian institutions."

Petkovic reminded that the attempt to forcefully evict Serbian institutions from Kosovska Mitrovica and seize Serbian property was a new attack on dialogue by Pristina, given that this issue could only be considered in the context of the formation of the CSM, which had been confirmed by the European Union itself on several occasions.

He reminds that with such illegal decisions, Kurti and Atiq revoked the right to work for around 43 employees in that building, as well as endangered the rights of tens of thousands of Serbs, Albanians, Bosniaks, Roma people, Gorani people who exercise their rights through the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund or the Center for Social Work Vucitrn.

"Pristina is the only one that wants conflicts and instability, and it would be tragic if it succeeded in realizing that interest," the letter concludes.