EU: Solution found for incident in Suvo Grlo and Banje, continuation of healthcare services enabled

The EU Office in Pristina told Kosovo Online that a solution has been found for the outpatient clinics in the villages of Suvo Grlo and Banje in the municipality of Srbica, which were closed on April 10, and that this has enabled the continuation of healthcare services.

“A solution has been found for the incident. It enables the continuation of healthcare services for the community, in line with the agreement from the EU-facilitated dialogue of March 14, 2026,” the written response states.

Residents of Suvo Grlo told our portal that the signs bearing the Kosovo emblem were removed on Thursday afternoon and that during the following day, EULEX was present in front of the clinic in Suvo Grlo.

“A nurse who works at the clinic informed me that the signs were removed in the afternoon. People came, I do not know who exactly, whether it was the inspection that put them up, whether they removed them... On Friday, a doctor came from Kosovska Mitrovica, and our nurses who work there were present. She told me that the clinics are open and operating. EULEX was also present, until noon I had information that they were in Suvo Grlo and Banje, now I am not sure,” Suvo Grlo representative Vasilije Tomasevic said for Kosovo Online.

Doctors from North Mitrovica were also working at the clinic in the village of Banje, residents confirmed to Kosovo Online. As they stated, EULEX was present in front of that clinic as well.

In a response to Kosovo Online, EULEX said that its units were present in the two villages in order to gain insight into the situation on the ground.

“In line with EULEX’s monitoring mandate, the presence of members of the Formed Police Unit aimed to gain situational awareness on the ground - a task EULEX regularly carries out across Kosovo,” the written response stated.

To recall, on April 10, on Good Friday, the Kosovo inspection authorities closed the “St. Nicholas” clinic in the village of Banje, in the municipality of Srbica, as well as the clinic in the village of Suvo Grlo. At the same time, signs were removed from the “Milun Jaksic” Elementary School in the village of Banje and from the Technical School in Srbica, and shortly afterward, on April 14, signs bearing Kosovo symbols were placed on the clinics.

The mayor of the municipality of Srbica, Sami Lushtaku, stated that he had ordered the closure of two family medicine clinics in two settlements with a non-majority Serb community in Banje and Suvo Grlo. He said that these clinics had been operating illegally under the management of parallel Serbian structures, outside Kosovo’s constitutional and legal framework, and that they could resume operations only once they were fully integrated into Kosovo’s healthcare system.

Also, on March 1 in Suvo Grlo, five Serbs were arrested on charges of war crimes and have been in detention since then.