US Embassy: The authorities of North Mitrovica made a decision to evict Serbian institutions from the municipal building without coordination

The local authorities in North Mitrovica had not made the last decision to evict the municipal building where Serbian institutions were located, in coordination with the international community, the Embassy of the United States of America in Kosovo stated in a response to Radio Free Europe.

The Embassy points out that this decision is not even in accordance with the requirements not to undertake actions that could lead to an escalation of the situation.

In response, they underline that the US advised the Government of Kosovo, including the mayors in the north, to refrain from taking any actions that could increase tensions.

"Although we are aware that municipal elections in April 2023 in four municipalities in the north of Kosovo were mandatory under Kosovo laws and recognized the results as legitimate, bearing in mind the extremely low voter turnout in those elections, a number of US officials expressed our expectation that the elected mayors, including North Mitrovica, will make special efforts to respond to the concerns of all residents and community members," the spokeswoman of the US Embassy in Kosovo said.

The local authorities in North Mitrovica, one of the four municipalities with a Serb majority in the north of Kosovo, yesterday requested that the institutions of Serbia "liberate" one of their facilities in the Bosniak Mahala settlement.

The inspection reasoned that they had not been provided with the documentation based on which the institutions of Serbia used that facility, and it was added that the institutions of Serbia had been previously informed that they had to prepare and present documents or a contract on the use of this facility.

The disputed building houses the Office for Kosovo, the Directorate of the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund, the Kosovska Mitrovica Administrative District, and the Center for Social Work from Vucitrn.