Zaporozac: Kosovo and local authorities are carrying out institutional violence against Serbs

Ivan Zaporozac, Vice President of the Serb List, emphasized that Kosovo and local authorities in North Mitrovica are carrying out institutional violence against Serbs and that a silent ethnic cleansing of the Serbian people is underway.

“No matter how harmless it may sound to organize sports or cultural events, that is institutional violence because it is carried out against the will of the majority Serbian population. What happened in North Mitrovica on the promenade, where the majority of citizens are Serbs, is absolutely something organized against the will of the people,” he told Newsmax Balkans, referring to the sports and cultural event organized by Albanian authorities in North Mitrovica.

Zaporozac said that the mayor, who will certainly soon be out of office, organized something that could have led to conflict.

“The absolute goal of the regime in Pristina and the local authorities is to make every Serb feel anxious, to ask themselves whether this is the place for them and what they are doing here. I am very satisfied with the decision of our people and their will to stay here and to fight for all the things that belong to a normal life,” Zaporozac stressed.

Regarding last night’s basketball tournament, attended by Kosovo’s acting Minister of Police Xhelal Svecla, he said it was a “masquerade and circus” intended to show that they were culturally and athletically on the side of the citizens.

At the same time, he recalled, Serbian children are forbidden from playing sports and participating in sports events, while just a few months ago they were even stripped of the right to train when the sports hall was closed.

“The situation on the ground is completely different from the way they want to present it. What they are doing is direct ethnic cleansing,” Zaporozac said.

Regarding the fire in Zubin Potok that destroyed a printing house owned by the Serb List’s candidate for mayor of that municipality, Zaporozac emphasized that even in the past it was evident that as the elections draw closer, pressure, especially on the Serb List as the core of Serb unity and its connection with Serbia, only increases.

“We are here to fight, to show that we want our people to live better, while the authorities in Pristina are trying to take away our right to life. The only message is that we must be united, encourage ourselves, and take matters into our own hands, not allow others to shape our destiny,” Zaporozac said.

Asked what he expects after the local elections on October 12, Zaporozac replied that he expects Serb List candidates to head all 10 municipalities in which Serbs are the majority.
He pointed out that from everything that has happened over the previous years in northern Kosovo, it was clear what the situation looks like when the Serb List does not hold power in the northern municipalities.

“We must take matters into our own hands so that the Serb List can have local government in its hands. We must work to change things so that citizens can feel real improvements,” Zaporozac said.