Vlajic: Land expropriation decision harmed entire Serbian community; Court has all requirements to accept citizens' lawsuit

The decision of the Government of Kosovo on the land expropriation in the Leposavic and Zubin Potok Municipalities has harmed the entire Serbian community because the decision was made without the opinion of citizens, landowners, and all legal norms, lawyer Nebojsa Vlajic, says for Kosovo Online, before tomorrow's public hearing on the expropriation scheduled by the Ministry of Infrastructure in Leposavic, and then in Zubin Potok on February 21.

According to Vlajic, the interest in tomorrow's discussion is great, and he believes that many will respond to it and come prepared with their objections, which are more than well-founded.

"I expect the government to take those remarks into account for consideration because so far, it has not had arguments from the other side but has made this decision absolutely unilaterally and without taking into account the interests of others. After that, I expect the government to review this decision from the beginning and possibly make the opposite of what they intended to do," lawyer Vlajic says, who was hired by the Office for Kosovo and Metohija and who filed a lawsuit to the Supreme Court on behalf of the affected citizens.

He adds that the law is completely unclear and that the big question is whether the Supreme Court or the Basic Court will decide on the lawsuit, but, as he points out, whichever court decides, it is time to deal with this lawsuit.

"The expropriation decision does not include only land owners, then we could say that there are about twenty or fifty of them, but entire villages and groups of villages are harmed, and the population in the entire municipality is harmed because the land in the municipality is simply taken away, the way of life is changed, there will be a military or police base, we still don't know what will be there. The question is whether it will be possible to live there as before. Therefore, the entire Serbian community is harmed because one decision was implemented, without the opinion of citizens, landowners, and all legal norms. As for the total number of affected people from the Leposavic Municipality, 21 people filed a lawsuit, and half as many from the Zubin Potok Municipality," Vlajic tells us.

He explains that a large land area was confiscated in Leposavic, even slightly larger than in the Zubin Potok Municipality.

"We are talking about 83 hectares in Leposavic, almost a square kilometer. Of that, 25 hectares are privately owned, and a smaller part, about one hectare, is owned by the municipality, and there is a village cemetery and church foundations from the 14th century, while 50 hectares are owned by the Forestry. In the municipality of Zubin Potok, there are about 50 hectares, and the ratio of private and public land is almost equal," Vlajic says.

As the expropriation in the Zubin Potok Municipality started earlier, the lawsuit was also filed earlier for the affected parties from that area.

"We filed a lawsuit at the beginning of October for the Zubin Potok Municipality, while for Leposavic, it was filed at the very beginning of February. According to the first lawsuit, nothing was resolved, and no decision was made. I believe that this is another serious violation of the law because the law on expropriation provides for deadlines both for citizens who can initiate the procedure and for the courts that are obliged to decide on that lawsuit. That procedure cannot be dragged on indefinitely, because the legal interest of citizens and legal security require that it is resolved as soon as possible. It is too early to say how the court will decide. The court has all the requirements to accept the lawsuit because the demands of the citizens are well-founded. We will adjust our behavior depending on the court's decision," Vlajic concludes.