Radojevic: The events are a provocation, while our children are forbidden from training in the sports hall

The events organized in recent weeks under the auspices of the Municipality of North Mitrovica, in cooperation with the Municipality of South Mitrovica and Albanian businessmen from southern Kosovo as sponsors, are seen by Milan Radojevic, the Serbian List’s candidate for mayor in the upcoming local elections, as an instrument for raising tensions rather than building trust between communities.

In a statement for Kosovo Online, Radojevic described all these manifestations as provocations and pressure on the Serbs of North Mitrovica.

“The organization of the recent basketball tournament on the Milic Brothers Square, dedicated to the innocent Serbian youths killed in the 1999 war, is scandalous. It shows the attitude of the current illegitimate municipal authorities toward Serbs, Serbian victims, and the right of Serbs to preserve the culture of remembrance of their fallen,” Radojevic said.

He added that he does not expect this to stop; on the contrary, he believes it will continue as local elections draw near.

“As this administration approaches the end of its mandate and with local elections coming up, we expect even more provocations from the mayor, as well as from Pristina and Albin Kurti. We can see that the local administration itself has no capacity to organize such events but receives direct instructions from Pristina. Proof of this are the frequent visits by the acting Minister of Internal Affairs, Xhelal Sveçla, as well as the Minister of Local Government and other ministers in Albin Kurti’s caretaker government,” Radojevic stated.

He pointed to double standards, noting that Serbian clubs are at the same time prohibited from engaging in any sporting activities, even though, as he stressed, politics and sports should not be mixed.

“This demonstrates the kind of cooperation they want with the Serbs. Serbs are forbidden from holding any events. Our children are prohibited from training in the sports hall. That is simply sport, with no politics whatsoever. Yet they have gone so far as to ban our children and our clubs from using the sports hall. They have prohibited the organization of any cultural events, all under the pretext that clubs and associations must be registered. Politics, culture, and sports should not be mixed. Unfortunately, Pristina violates this every day: when it comes to organizations run by Albanians, such events are generously approved and supported, even with the understanding of international organizations, but when Serbs wish to organize similar events, they are always obstructed, the police are sent to shut them down, and in one way or another they are suppressed,” Radojevic concluded.