Stevic: Constant pressure on the Serbian community, reports in the SC necessary to show the real picture

Journalist from North Mitrovica, Lazar Stevic, says that Serbs from Kosovo can currently only seek protection from the international community and that a potential departure of UNMIK, which is being advocated by Pristina along with the US and the United Kingdom, would be harmful to the Serbs.

“UNMIK pays a lot of attention to minority communities, their security, issues of democracy, the rule of law... And we can see what is happening in Kosovo today, that there is a huge lack of democracy and rule of law, and that pressure is being exerted on the Serbian minority community. Serbia must, at every future session of the UN Security Council, advocate for UNMIK to stay,” Stevic said, commenting on the recent statement by US Ambassador to the United Nations, Dorothy Shea, that the time has come to end the UNMIK mission.

He points out that the narrative about ending UNMIK was also pushed at the last UN Security Council session dedicated to the situation in Kosovo, but that there is no consensus among Security Council members on this issue.

“On one side we have the US and the UK pushing for UNMIK to withdraw from Kosovo, while on the other side we have Paris, then Moscow and Beijing, as well as other countries including Serbia, who oppose this move because they believe UNMIK still has a lot of work to do in Kosovo, especially concerning minority issues. The continuation of six-month reports to the UN Security Council that show the real picture in Kosovo and how Serbs here actually live is necessary,” Stevic stated.

Since the rise to power of Albin Kurti and the Self-Determination Movement, Stevic says, there has been constant pressure on the Serbian community, and many Serbs have left Kosovo.

“According to some data, more than 20 percent of Serbs from the north alone have left Kosovo. It would be a truly disastrous move if UNMIK were to leave this area, because I believe that would only intensify the pressure from Albin Kurti and the Pristina authorities on Serbs, resulting in even more Serbs leaving these areas. Furthermore, the abolition of UNMIK would benefit Pristina, as it would allow Kosovo to complete its independence, bearing in mind that the UNMIK mission was created under Resolution 1244, which states that Kosovo is an integral part of the Republic of Serbia,” Stevic emphasized.