Vulovic: The answers of the EU and OSCE offices unequivocally confirm that the people are right

After the answers arrived from the European Union office in Kosovo and the OSCE Mission to the Leposavic municipality, the same answers also arrived at the address of the Zubin Potok municipality, more precisely to the former mayor Srdjan Vulovic.

Namely, the missions responded identically to the letters sent to them by the former mayor of Zubin Potok, Srdjan Vulovic, regarding the expropriation of property belonging to the Serbs in that municipality, and expressed their concern about the actions of the Kosovo government and called on them to respect property rights.

Vulovic stated for Kosovo Online that the answers of the EU delegation and the OSCE Mission unequivocally confirmed that the people were right and that Pristina had violated a number of rights and steps.

"From the first moment when the authorities in Pristina began to implement their unilateral and illegal decisions on expropriation, or more precisely, the seizure of the land of Serbian hosts in the municipality of Zubin Potok, especially on the plots Gornji Jasenovik, Brankovo Brdo, Banje, Velji Breg and Padine, the municipality together with the locals does everything to preserve and protect our legitimate rights. From the numerous letters we sent, the request for the suspension of works, the hiring of a legal representative for the residents whose land has been usurped, to addressing all the missions in Kosovo. The answer we received from the EU delegation and the OSCE Mission unequivocally confirms that the people are right, that a series of rights and steps were violated in the procedures conducted by Pristina, that the expropriation is illegitimate, that they failed to provide answers about the purpose of the confiscated land, and this, for us, very important issue came under the scrutiny of the international community as well," Vulovic says.

He adds that thanks to the people who resolutely opposed their arguments, this issue came under the scrutiny of the international community.

"We opposed these illegal decisions decisively, unitedly with our people, expert teams, with the power of arguments, and that gave results that this issue came under the scrutiny of the international community and that our arguments were heard and respected. We will continue to fight with all legal and democratic means to protect the legal and legitimate interests of our people, both in the municipality of Zubin Potok and in the municipality of Leposavic," Vulovic added.

The EU and OSCE missions in Kosovo stated in their responses that they were concerned about the expropriation and called on the government in Pristina 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, including the case in the village of Gornji Jasenovik. I expressed my concern to the government and called for respect for the rights of all property owners and due process 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 Zubin Potok on February 21.

"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; will 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 a letter of similar content to Vulovic.

"We are addressing you on the occasion of your letter dated February 20, 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, which was located in the territory of the municipality of Zubin Potok. The Special EU Representative has the mandate 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 Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo EULEX has the mandate to monitor selected cases and trials in Kosovo judicial system and is currently carefully monitoring the expropriation procedure," the head of the EU office in Kosovo, Tomas Szunyog said.

As pointed out in the statement of the EU Office on this issue, dated 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," Szunyog said.