Kosovo authorities closed a parallel Serbian municipality responsible for the city of Skenderaj (Serbia ) in Northern Kosovo, after they searched the site earlier on Wednesday, the newspaper “Koha ditore“ reported, quoted by BTA.
The illegal structure was discovered after a Kosovo police patrol noticed movement of people in an office near the police building in the northern part of the city of Mitrovica. During the inspection, it was established that the office is part of the illegal, according to Kosovo, structures and is responsible for the municipality of Skenderaj. A prosecutor has ordered the seizure of physical evidence from the office, its closure, as well as the interrogation of the responsible persons, informed the Kosovo police.
A few weeks ago, other parallel municipalities that functioned in Northern Kosovo were also closed, recalls “Koha ditore”.
On August 30, Kosovo closed institutions operating under the Serbian system in four municipalities in northern Kosovo, mostly inhabited by Serbs – Zvechan, Zubin stream, Leposavich and Severna Mitrovica.
In Kosovo, there are municipalities, public companies and enterprises, kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, as well as public universities, which are financed directly by the Government of Serbia. These institutions, located in populated areas where the Serbian community lives, are illegal according to Kosovo legislation.
Serbia and the Kosovo Serbs do not recognize the independence of Kosovo declared in 2008. Belgrade and Pristina are conducting a dialogue to normalize relations under the auspices of the EU.
The EU and the US criticized Kosovo for closing the parallel municipalities in August, describing the actions of the Kosovo authorities as unilateral and uncoordinated.
Following the news of the action against the parallel municipality in charge of Skenderaj, the Serbian government office for Kosovo announced that the workers at the site had been expelled.
„Officers of the police of (Kosovo Prime Minister Albin) Kurti entered the site of the provisional authority of Skenderaj municipality and closed it. Four civilian police officers chased away the workers they found there on the grounds that they were engaged in “illegal and unconstitutional activity”, the Serbian government office for Kosovo said.
According to the office, these actions are in direct opposition to all agreements and outcomes of the EU-led dialogue.
In the position of the Serbian office for Kosovo, it is also said that “the only thing Kurti knows is to rule with the policy of closure and blockade”. The office added that this is the “tenth temporary authority that the authorities in Pristina have closed on an arbitrary and illegal basis after the closure of the temporary authorities in Štrpce, Klina, Istog, Gorazhets, Gora, Mitrovica, Leposavich, Zvechan and Zubin Potok“.< /p>