Rapajic: The ethnic composition in Gracanica is changing, Albanians maximally united against Serbs

Aleksandar Rapajic, Program Director of the NGO Center for the Promotion of Democratic Culture from North Mitrovica, emphasized that the tendency to change the ethnic composition in the municipality of Gracanica has been ongoing for a decade, and that the Albanian Alliance, which will participate in the race for mayor and councilors in the municipality, clearly shows that Albanians are maximally united when acting against Serbs.

Rapajic notes that the municipality of Gracanica has long faced challenges regarding changes in its ethnic composition, as its location makes it attractive to Albanians who settle there.

"Gracanica has been facing problems for a long time, if not more than a decade. Artificial pressure is applied there, including the purchase of property and the settlement of Albanians, especially in urban areas such as Caglavica and Gracanica. The ethnic composition is slowly changing. Since this has been going on for more than a decade, it is beginning to show results. This undermines the original idea of creating the municipality of Gracanica, because Gracanica was established to form a majority Serb municipality in that part of central Kosovo, but we can see that Albanian interests are somewhat different," Rapajic told Kosovo Online.

Regarding the formation of the Albanian Alliance, led by the deputy mayor of Gracanica, Leutrim Ajeti, Rapajic emphasizes that the fact that the four largest Albanian parties have united shows that Albanians come together when it comes to acting against Serbs.

"When it concerns Serbs, it unites Albanians completely. If something is done against Serbs, Albanians immediately unite and do not criticize each other at all. Although Albanian parties attack each other over various issues, they never criticize what is done to Serbs in Kosovo and always remain silent. The fact that a joint list was created in Gracanica shows how nationally oriented this is; there is no real program or idea, only the goal to gather votes on a single list, and then, probably in cooperation with some Serb parties close to the government, attempt to influence the formation of the municipality," Rapajic added.

Although there is also a tendency to change the ethnic composition in North Mitrovica, Rapajic points out that this municipality is not yet facing the same problems as Gracanica, Novo Brdo, and Strpce.

"Currently, the municipalities facing the biggest problems are Novo Brdo and Gracanica. As for Novo Brdo, it is not as interesting to investors, but in Gracanica and Strpce, which are highly attractive to citizens due to their location, this becomes a major problem," Rapajic concluded.