Radojevic: Citizens want to live in North Mitrovica, not in a unified Mitrovica

The Mayor of North Mitrovica, Milan Radojevic, condemned the provocations by the authorities in Pristina and stated that citizens want to live in North Mitrovica, not in a unified Mitrovica, adding that the international community must make it clear that Albin Kurti’s plan cannot be implemented.

Radojevic told RTS that citizens of North Mitrovica have been waking up in fear for decades, wondering what will happen next, what move Pristina will make next, and how it will attempt to divide families and disrupt lives.

However, he added, the fact remains that citizens are determined to endure despite all the difficulties they face.

He pointed out that in recent years Albin Kurti has sought to eliminate the separate municipality of North Mitrovica and merge it with the southern part.

“Since we took office on December 5, both the Kosovo government and the newly elected mayor of South Mitrovica have taken an aggressive approach. They have repeatedly come to North Mitrovica and announced programs that are not within their jurisdiction, directly interfering in the competencies of North Mitrovica,” Radojevic stressed.

He stated that the Mayor of South Mitrovica, Faton Peci, yesterday organized a march with high school students from the southern part toward North Mitrovica to commemorate 104 missing Mitrovica residents.

They marched, he recalled, to the Bosniak Mahala neighborhood, to a private house that, by a government decision, is planned to be turned into a museum of genocide of Serbs against Albanians.

He said that the authorities of North Mitrovica had tried to annul that decision, but that it was not possible because it was adopted at the central level.

Radojevic said that the authorities of North Mitrovica had proposed allocating funds in the budget for the construction of a cultural center that would bring young people together, but that Pristina rejected this and stuck to its own project.

He also recalled that Kurti, together with Peci, visited the Brdjani neighborhood in the north a few weeks ago without informing the municipal authorities, where they announced another memorial museum.

“We inform representatives of the international community about all visits. It is terrible that young people have now been misused for political purposes. Instead of building bridges of trust, especially among young people, what message is being sent - that Serbs are genocidal, that Serbia is a genocidal state. On the other hand, last week we sent a wonderful image, where many children on the promenade sent the most beautiful message, while at the same time Kurti, together with Peci, visited the northern part of Mitrovica without notice and launched one of his central projects,” Radojevic explained.

Asked whether he expects a reaction from the competent authorities, Radojevic said he does not expect a reaction from Pristina’s institutions, but rather from the international community, which, he says, must put pressure on Pristina and guarantee respect for the law.

“If we are talking about the competent institutions in Pristina, honestly we do not expect their reaction, because after everything they have done, we have hit a wall. We expect more from the international community, because this is a direct violation of laws and the constitution adopted by Pristina itself. We are asking the international community to put pressure on Pristina and ensure respect for the law,” Radojevic said.

He emphasized that citizens of North Mitrovica clearly stated in elections that they want change.

“And we are delivering that change. Citizens want to live in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, not in a unified Mitrovica. The international community must make it clear that Albin Kurti’s plan cannot be implemented,” Radojevic said.

Regarding the closure of clinics in the villages of Banje and Suvo Grlo near Srbica on Good Friday, Radojevic pointed out that Pristina is creating problems and continues with provocations against Serbs ahead of every holiday, especially major ones such as Christmas and Easter, and stressed that he expects the EU and the United States, as guarantors of all agreements, to show that in this case a red line has been crossed.

“The EU Special Representative for the dialogue said on March 14 that healthcare and education would be topics at the negotiating table in Brussels, without unilateral actions by Pristina. On Good Friday, we once again witnessed unilateral moves, and therefore we expect the EU and the United States to guarantee that healthcare and education will be topics of dialogue in Brussels, as well as to guarantee the implementation of agreements on documents and vehicles. These are issues of great importance for Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, and we expect the international community to take a clear position,” the Mayor of North Mitrovica said.

He noted that the responses they have received regarding the closure of the two clinics are neither adequate nor acceptable, as they amount to claims that it was a unilateral move by the mayor of Srbica.

“In the case of the Municipality of North Mitrovica, actions come from the central level, decisions of the mayor and the municipal assembly are annulled, and pressure is exerted on the leadership. In this specific case, we have information that Pristina was not aware of what was happening and that it will work on it,” Radojevic said.

According to him, there is still no concrete information from the EU regarding the case of the clinic closures. He noted that Peter Sorensen arrived in Pristina yesterday, which is why he hopes there will be more concrete information today about the accumulated problems that Pristina is creating day by day.

Asked how much support from official Belgrade means to them, he stressed that without that support there would be no Serbs in Kosovo.

“If it were not for the support of Belgrade, President Aleksandar Vucic, and the Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, I would not be standing here today, nor would there be Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, in North Kosovska Mitrovica. The situation in Kosovo and Metohija is extremely difficult, we remember many hard times. Without their support, we would not be here, and we are determined to remain on our land,” Radojevic said.