Sljuka: The closure of Postal Savings Bank branches is another threat to the Serbian community in Kosovo

The closure of Postal Savings Bank branches in Kosovo in a coordinated action by the Kosovo Police and the Kosovo Tax Administration represents yet another threat to the Serbian community, Aleksandar Sljuka from the NGO "New Social Initiative" said. Sljuka believes that this unilateral move by the Government of Kosovo will only deepen the crisis and create a state of heightened tensions.

"I see this as yet another uncoordinated, unilateral action by the Government of Kosovo prompted by the decision of the Central Bank of Kosovo. They claim they have nothing to do with it, but we saw that the international community reacted in February, and that no one from the international community reacted today, except that EULEX said they had not been informed that this action would take place," Sljuka told Kosovo Online.

He believes that the closure of Postal Savings Bank branches is also partly a response to Kosovo not being admitted to the Council of Europe.

"This, along with other actions such as banning the entry of the Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch into Kosovo, and also actors, can be seen as a continuation of that policy," he added.

He notes that the issue of using the dinar in Kosovo should have been resolved through dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, and reminded that seven meetings have been held so far to resolve this issue, but no solution has been reached.

"This will only deepen the crisis, and I think we are entering a state of heightened tensions again, which will be particularly problematic now considering that we have elections in the EU, which will lead to many distractions from the dialogue and the situation in Kosovo. I think the situation will continue to deteriorate. We do not see acts of goodwill from Kosovo, we see this as yet another threat to the Serbian community," he said.

Sljuka points out that the closure of Postal Savings Bank branches creates new problems, especially for the employees of that institution who are now practically left without jobs, as well as for other citizens who used the services of that institution and will no longer be able to do so, to withdraw money, or to complete other administrative tasks.

He says that according to information from the Kosovo Police and media teams, six branches, including the Treasury Department in North Mitrovica, have been closed as of last night.

"I see this as a continuation of everything that has happened since the Central Bank of Kosovo regulation came into effect in February, when we had the closure of certain institutions in southern Kosovo. I think, in light of the expiration of that transitional period announced a few days ago, we could somewhat expect this. It didn’t happen immediately because some were afraid, and some institutions switched to working in euros out of fear," Sljuka said.

He adds that there is a fear that due to the dinar ban, there will be punishments, closures, and possibly prosecutions.

He reminds that in February, some workers from institutions that were being closed, specifically workers from the Serbian Post in Gorazdevac, were detained.