Simic: This is not the time for any change in KFOR's presence

Serb List Presidency member Igor Simic stressed that this was not the time for any change in KFOR's presence on the main Ibar Bridge or near Visoki Decani Monastery, adding that such a move was contrary to the interests of the Serbian people in Kosovo.

"This is not only the position of the Serb List, but also the position of the Serbian people in Kosovo. We are absolutely opposed to this and believe that this is not the time for any change in KFOR's presence on the main city bridge over the Ibar or near Visoki Decani Monastery. That is contrary to the interests of the Serbian people and to what is happening on the ground," Simic told TV Prva.

He said it was unacceptable for Kosovo Police officers who, he said, mistreated and beat Serbs and assisted those illegally demolishing Serbian homes to be entrusted with responsibility for a flashpoint such as the Ibar Bridge, which had witnessed nearly 1,000 attacks against Serbs.

"The very idea supports the conclusion that someone wants, in addition to all the pressure Kurti is already exerting, to place further pressure on Serbs and make life even more difficult for them in Kosovo and Metohija, particularly as the new school year approaches and as we approach the September 16 judgment in The Hague against the KLA leaders, when security should actually be increased," Simic said.

Speaking about the situation in Zubin Potok, he said that searches and detentions of Serbs were taking place in the municipality on a daily basis.

"There is enormous concern. I do not want to call it fear, because after 27 years and everything we have endured here, there is no fear left, but there is concern about what tomorrow will bring. Zubin Potok has been particularly targeted in recent days. All honorable people who have remained in their homes have found themselves targeted by the regime, and Nenad Raskovic is the most extreme example of how the Kosovo Police treats Serbs," Simic stressed.

He said that information available to the Serb List indicated that several Serbs had experienced similar treatment but were unwilling to speak publicly out of fear for their own safety and that of their families.

"Every day, we speak to those who have a mandate to provide security to citizens—EULEX, KFOR, and representatives of the Quint—in the hope that they will react and finally emerge from their state of sleep or hibernation. We are not asking for anything to be taken away from anyone; we are simply asking for our rights to be respected. If houses with unresolved ownership issues in the Municipality of Djakovica are demolished only after seven years of court proceedings, how is it possible for Serbian houses to be demolished almost immediately, within just a few days of receiving notice, and sometimes even without any notice at all?" Simic said.

He reiterated that searches and detentions of Serbs were taking place daily in Zubin Potok.

"Following our press conference, the practice continued of arresting people, holding them somewhere without their lawyers or families knowing where they were, and then, a few hours later, mysteriously releasing them. They are not prepared to speak publicly about the trauma they experience, but in conversations with us they say that they were mistreated and psychologically abused. This is something that should concern everyone in the international community who claims that the security situation in Kosovo has improved," Simic stressed.