Residents of Dren: Our land is occupied; Todic: They are building a police base; Elshani: We received an order

After learning that works have begun in the village of Dren on the road leading from the highway from the direction of Leposavic to the hamlet of Zaselje in Leska and the hill on which, according to the decision of the Government of Kosovo, the illegal expropriation of land was carried out, the president of the Provisional Institution of the Municipality of Leposavic, Zoran Todic, immediately came to the scene and spoke with the locals and members of the Kosovo Police.

Todic said that in a conversation with the authorities, he had found out that it had been about the construction of a military base.

"It has been 15 days since this unlawful and illegal decision on the expropriation of land in the cadastral zones of Dren and Lesak, and today, we found out the purposes for which it was made. It was about the construction of a base, Kosovo Police members confirmed to us. Today happened another unilateral move, which no one informed us about; heavy construction machines are there; these people who carry out the work are secured by members of the Special Police Units who are armed to the teeth. People are worried and resentful and this is not in anyone's favor today because we do not need new tensions. But the people are determined not to allow the seizure of land and heritage. Nobody is comfortable with a purely Albanian police unit staying here, and the situation is really difficult. We met the director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, and we have information that the EU Special Envoy for dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, was also informed about this. Despite the protests of the locals, they continue to carry out works; today they are working on widening the road that leads to this plot of land which is 83 hectares of surface, 13 of which are owned by the inhabitants of the village of Dren. Six plots are socially owned, while one plot is municipal, on which is a local cemetery. In the conversation with the lieutenant colonel of the Kosovo Police, Veton Elshani, we conveyed that the locals were asking for the suspension of all works because they did not accept the seizure of property," Todic said.

Lieutenant Colonel Veton Elshani of the Kosovo Police, who is also the coordinator of this entire action, says that after the decision of the government in Pristina, they are here today to make the decision and implement it.

"This will be a border police station. Today we talked with the locals and we told them what we had known. They complain that a part of the Orthodox cemetery is included in the decision on expropriation, but that is a technical error, and during the works we will see what we can do about it," Elshani said.

When asked why no one had talked to these people, Elshani said that he understood the locals, but that they had received an order that they had to carry out.

"We talked to people this morning and we understand them, but orders are orders and we respect the Government's decision. There is no increased number of police officers, as the locals think, who are deployed in the surrounding hills. Their number is minimal," Elshani says.

A resident of the village of Dren, Mladen Ciprijanovic, a law graduate, says that this is a violation of the law and legal violence.

"The law on expropriation foresees a long procedure, which can last a year or even longer, while here we have usurpation of land in only 15 days. The Government's decision was made non-transparently, without informing the local population and private owners of this public goal, which should be well explained and about which a public hearing should be held. None of that has been complied with. The private owners will file a complaint with the Constitutional Court of Kosovo, and until the final decision, no work should be carried out. The owners have the right to remain on their property until the final payment is made, which will be determined by the final decision on expropriation. Having learned from the experience of last year, in connection with the expropriation of land and the construction of the base in Jarinje, I think that the rights of the locals will not be respected," Ciprijanovic says.

Resident Ivan Josovic says that his land is occupied and that no one has asked him anything.

"There is a large number of members of the Special Police who are armed to the teeth, they are securing the workers, we don't know what will happen. We wait ten minutes each to get to the houses. To the KFOR members who are still here today and were there yesterday, he said to visit this road more often and see what was being done because snipers were everywhere. We are worried and scared. The fence will pass by my house. The local self-government is there with us and what we expect is that the works will be stopped," Josovic says.

Stefan Dimitrijevic from the same village says that the Albanians came to usurp the property on which they have been living for centuries.

"We have always been here, we live and work, they came to our properties with rifles; they surrounded us and we don't know what to do. The people are upset because of armed policemen who carry rifles and snipers. They didn't even inform us, they just started building a police base. Why is that, from whom are they protecting us, from ourselves? We see no reason for the base to be in our village," Dimitrijevic says.