Residents of Gracanica on the occasion of one year since the ban on Serbian goods: Now we buy what we have to

A year after the institutions in Pristina banned the import of Serbian goods, the citizens of central Kosovo express their dissatisfaction with the quality and prices of the available products. They emphasize that they buy what they must to survive and that it is clear that "everything Serbian is being banned for Serbs in Kosovo."

The Kosovo government decided on June 14, 2023, to ban the import of goods from Serbia. The supplies that were in markets and stores were quickly depleted, and Serbs in Kosovo were forced to buy more expensive and, as they say, lower quality products.

Mirjana Mitic from Laplje Selo emphasizes that she buys what she must.

"We lack quality, what we are used to, dairy products, we miss Plazma biscuits, cream, all those good things we grew up with. Now we buy what we have to, and quantity is more important than quality," Mitic said.

"As for goods, everything is missing. There is no milk, there's simply nothing to buy. Prices are rising, we buy what is available, what can we do... When we go to Serbia, we buy something better, but that happens rarely," a resident of Gracanica said.

Suzana Komatovic from Gracanica says that Serbs in Kosovo have no right to anything Serbian.

"This is a disgrace and a shame that we Serbs here have no right to our goods. We manage as best as we can, buying here in Kosovo what comes from Macedonia, Greece, Germany, Albania, whatever is in the stores, but unfortunately, there are no Serbian goods anywhere in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija. We who remained to live in the territory of Kosovo have no right to anything Serbian, we don't know why Serbian products bother them," Komatovic said.

Tamara Djordjevic says that although she buys what is found on the shelves in markets and stores, her family is used to a different quality of goods.

"There is nothing, for example, the children eat Plazma biscuits, but we can't find it, it's nowhere to be found," Djordjevic said.