Serb List: Employees will not enter clinics in Banje and Suvo Grlo nor work under imposed conditions

The Serb List stated today that the installation of a new trilingual sign bearing Kosovo insignia on the premises of Serbian clinics in the villages of Suvo Grlo and Banje, in the municipality of Srbica, endangers the rights of Serbs to medical treatment and healthcare. It called on the European Union and the United States to react urgently and to restore the clinics to their previous status.

The Serb List further noted that employees will not enter these facilities or work under the imposed conditions, emphasizing that Serbs wish to be treated by Serbian medical professionals, as they do not have confidence in Albanian doctors.

“By today’s act of installing a new trilingual sign with Kosovo insignia on the premises of Serbian clinics in the villages of Suvo Grlo and Banje in the municipality of Srbica—clinics that are part of the Serbian healthcare system but are now being treated as municipal property by the Kosovo authorities—the fundamental rights of the Serbian population to medical treatment and healthcare are directly jeopardized. This also constitutes a breach of the guarantees provided by the European Union and the United States that there would be no interruption in the functioning of these institutions and that their status would be resolved through existing agreements and in consultation with the Serbian population,” the statement reads.

The Serb List stressed that such unilateral actions represent a brutal denial of the right to healthcare for the Serbian population and a serious violation of all previously reached agreements.

It further emphasized that this move contravenes the public assurances given in Pristina by the EU Special Representative Peter Sørensen, which were also supported by the United States Embassy, thereby further undermining trust in the international guarantees extended to the Serbian community.

“Based on the information available to us, we wish to inform the public that employees will not enter these premises or work under imposed conditions. The Serbs in these villages want to be treated by Serbian healthcare professionals, as they have no confidence in Albanian doctors,” the statement adds.

The Serb List called on the European Union and the United States to respond urgently and unequivocally, warning that such actions create a dangerous precedent that is entirely unacceptable and could have unforeseeable consequences for stability on the ground.

“We demand the immediate restoration of the clinics in these villages to their previous status and the enabling of their uninterrupted operation within our healthcare system, so that citizens may exercise their right to medical treatment,” the statement concludes.

Four days after the inspection of the municipality of Srbica, with police assistance, closed the clinics in the villages of Banje and Suvo Grlo that had been operating within the Serbian system, a new sign reading “Banje Clinic” was today installed on the facility in the village of Banje, Radio Gorazdevac reported.

The Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, stated that the new signs were installed unlawfully and without the consent of the Serbian population, and called for the issue of healthcare to be returned to the framework of the EU-facilitated proposal.