Rapajic: With the new expropriation decision, Kurti shows he doesn't want to meet any international community conditions

Aleksandar Rapajic, Program Director of the NGO Center for Advocacy of Democratic Culture from North Mitrovica, says that the final decision of the Kosovo government on the expropriation of properties in the municipalities of Leposavic and Zubin Potok can be seen as a continuation of pressure on the Serbian community, but also as a way for Albin Kurti to show that he does not want to meet any conditions set by the international community.

“The next steps will be the continuation of expropriation and the construction of bases and police centers. We have an announcement that a police center will be built in the northern part of Mitrovica, and as we can see, the bases are still there. Checkpoints that were initially just control points have gradually turned into bases, so I think the message to the Serbian community is very clear – the pressure will continue,” Rapajic tells Kosovo Online.

Regarding the international community, our interlocutor states that Kurti has a negative attitude towards it and that this shows a kind of arrogance.

“One of the unofficial demands of the EU was to resolve the expropriation issue in the north. Just as it was said that the failed elections fulfilled the condition for the dismissal of mayors, so with this decision, he is saying that the condition regarding expropriation has been met. He shows that he does not want to meet any conditions of the international community and displays a certain arrogance towards them,” Rapajic says.

He believes that the Kosovo government's decision is not a response to Kosovo’s request to become a member of the Council of Europe not being included on the agenda of the Committee of Ministers of the CoE, because, as Rapajic says, even before this decision, Kurti did not make decisions in alignment with the international community.

“This has been a continuous pattern for several years now, with this government making decisions without consulting with Quint representatives,” Rapajic notes.

Regarding how the latest government decision will affect cases where the court annulled the initial expropriation decision, our interlocutor says that remains to be seen.

“We see that the police station in Zubin Potok still exists. We will see if there will be any removal of these structures and a halt to construction in those places where the court has ruled,” Rapajic points out.