The Serbs in Lipjan: Everything that happens in the north is felt in the south, but we must stay and survive

In Lipjan, a small town where nearly 5,000 Serbs used to live, the remaining Serbian population is often subjected to provocations. Last night, a window was broken at the "Braca Aksic" Primary School, which is attended by around 50 students.

The Kosovo Online team found the Kosovo Police in the schoolyard, and the Director of the "Braca Aksic" Primary School, Ljiljica Rasic, emphasized that it was currently unknown who had broken the window, as surveillance camera footage only showed the silhouette of a person.

"I can only say that this is not the first time such things have happened to us. We are, so to speak, exposed to provocations every day because we work in such an environment where students from both primary and secondary schools pass by and often provoke us, either verbally or with stones or even small pebbles. We are not protected, especially when some unfortunate event occurs in the vicinity," Rasic said.

For the Serbs in Lipjan, the gathering center is at the churches of the Assumption of the Virgin and Saint Flora and Lavra.

Milos Zoric, a resident of Lipjan, says they are accustomed to provocations and incidents but remain determined to stay and survive in their town.

"Whenever something happens in Kosovo, there are always situations that are not good for anyone living here, neither for the Serbs nor the Albanians. But when something like that happens in the north, it is always reflected here. Here, windows were broken at the school, and in one village, there was already some graffiti. You immediately feel that something is not right in the air, it is reflected. However, what can be done? We live in such circumstances; God left us here, we were born here, and we have to survive and preserve what we have," Zoric said.

For Momcilo Miljkovic, this is just an ordinary Wednesday; he says life goes on as usual.

"Both Albanians and Serbs come to my place, everyone moves around normally. There are no visible tensions. What they broke was probably the work of kids throwing stones; it's not the first time. When I worked at the school, it happened several times," Miljkovic said.

Lipjan once had nearly 5,000 Serbs living there, but that number has now been reduced to around 400.