Todic: The answers of the EU Office and the OSCE only confirmed that the expropriation decision was illegal

The Office of the European Union in Kosovo and the OSCE Mission responded to the letters sent to them by the former mayor of Leposavic, Zoran Todic, regarding the expropriation of the property of the Serbs in Leposavic, and expressed their concern about the actions of the Kosovo government, which they called on to respect property rights.

Todic assessed for Kosovo Online that the responses of the European Union Office in Kosovo and the OSCE Mission had only confirmed what had been pointed out from the beginning, namely that the decision of the Government in Pristina was illegal and unlawful.

"Everything we pointed out from the very beginning about this unilateral, illegal, and discriminatory decision of the Government from Pristina to initiate the procedure of land expropriation of more than 83 hectares in Cadastral Communities of Dren and Lesak on the territory of the municipality of Leposavic, in response to the letter we sent on 14 February, we received a response from the European Union and the OSCE in Kosovo (and if we also sent letters to other international missions in Kosovo and Quint embassies, which have not responded yet), it is clearly seen and confirmed in both responses to the letter, that the decision of the Pristina Government on the expropriation of land is illegal; that it violates basic human rights; that it is against the interests of the owners and heirs of the land, as well as the townspeople and residents of the municipality of Leposavic as a whole," Todic says.

He adds that they will continue to fight for law and justice, for the interests of residents, for the realization of basic human rights, as well as for the protection, in this case, of private and social property.

"I believe that the representatives of other international missions and embassies in Kosovo have become convinced of the illegality and unlawfulness of the decisions of the Pristina Government, and we will continue to fight and work for the interests of our residents with the help of the legal team, using all legal and other democratic mechanisms in order to protect the rights of land owners and heirs," Todic says.

He pointed out that everyone was together in this fight as well and that he hoped that justice and law would be on the side of the citizens.

"It is important to mention that we opposed this, yet another in a series of unilateral, illegal, and unlawful decisions of the Pristina Government on expropriation of land, and raised our voices together, the municipal leadership and the people, and the legal team, using legal arguments and we, all together, showed determination and perseverance in preserving legitimate interests, as well as preserving and protecting land from usurpation and, I can say, expropriation. We hope that law and justice, which is on the side of the land owner, will eventually give results and that the Government from Pristina will give up on implementing this unilateral illegal decision," Todic concludes.

The EU and OSCE missions in Kosovo, concerned about expropriation, call on the government to respect property rights.

"The OSCE mission is concerned about the issue of respect for property rights and legal procedures in this and similar cases in the north of Kosovo in recent months, and our staff has been actively monitoring this issue since August last year. I expressed my concern to the government and called for respect for the rights of all property owners and regular procedure in accordance with the law," the letter from the head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Michael Davenport says.

Davenport recalled that OSCE officials, as part of monitoring activities, had attended the public hearing held in Leposavic on February 15.

"Although it was an important moment to hear the concerns of property owners and the wider community, unfortunately, no one from the government could discuss the purpose of the expropriation. I pointed out to the government that it was important to provide official information about the purpose of the expropriation. We expect the government to do this at the latest in the next stage of the process, as required by law. The next step is expected to be the publication of the preliminary decision on expropriation. Once the government publishes the preliminary decision, affected landowners will have the right to challenge the expropriation in the courts according to the legally prescribed grounds relating to legitimacy, necessity, proportionality, non-discrimination, and respect for the law," Davenport added in his reply to Todic.

The OSCE mission, he stressed, would continue to monitor this issue with all interested parties; would continue to advocate for respect for the rule of law, and would advise affected property owners on available legal remedies.

The EU Office in Kosovo also sent Todic a letter with similar content.

"We are addressing you on the occasion of your letter dated February 14, addressed, among other things, to our mission, in which you express your concern regarding the recent decisions of the Government of Kosovo to implement the expropriation of immovable property, as stated, located in the territory of the municipality of Leposavic. Special EU Representative is mandated to advance Kosovo's rule of law priorities, assist and facilitate Kosovo's progress on the European path and ensure consistency and coherence of EU activities in Kosovo. The European Unions Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo EULEX is mandated to monitor selected cases and trials in Kosovo's judiciary system and is currently carefully monitoring the expropriation procedure," the head of the EU office in Kosovo Tomas Szunyog pointed out in his letter.

As it was emphasized in the statement of the EU Office on this issue, from February 2, "The EU is carefully following all the activities that take place in the cadastral zones of the municipalities of Leposavic and Zubin Potok".

"We believe that the rights of property owners must be fully respected in accordance with the applicable law. In accordance with the above, we appeal to the Government of Kosovo to make every effort to ensure that the prescribed procedure is followed and that the rights of property owners are fully respected. We wish to thank you for drawing our attention to such an important issue," the EU representative in Kosovo said.