Employee of the Basic Court in Mitrovica claims that she was forced to resign after 20 years of service after it was decided on 5. November that representatives of the Serbian community would collectively leave Kosovo’s institutions.
The decision was taken in a meeting with Goran Rakic, President of the Serbian List, the only party of Kosovo Serbs with representatives in Kosovo institutions.
The reason given was “violation of the rights of Serbs” by Kosovo Prime Minister Aljbin (Albin) Kurti. They demanded the revocation of the decision of the Kosovo authorities to re-register vehicles with plates issued by Serbia for towns in Kosovo. Also for the creation of a Association of Serb-majority municipalities.
“Nobody has a plan how this will be arranged. They just said come and sign the waivers that we had to sign. Regardless of the fact that they say it was voluntary, it was not voluntary at all,” testifies an employee of the Mitrovica main court, who agreed to be interviewed only on condition of anonymity.
Her identity is known to Radio Free Europe (RFE/RL).
The judiciary was integrated into the Kosovo system in 2017 on the basis of the Brussels Agreement, reached in the framework of the European Union (EU)-mediated Kosovo-Serbia dialogue.
On 7. November, however, Serbian judges and administrative workers officially left the Basic Court in Mitrovica.
“Everyone says you don’t have to, but you know you have to, you are forced, if you don’t sign they will burn your car or they can do anything to you”, said an RFE/RL interlocutor.
In the last two months, Kosovo Police have recorded five cases of properties being set on fire by people who decided to change their licence plates from KM (Kosovska Mitrovica) to RKS (Republic of Kosovo), which the Kosovo authorities describe as “intimidation”.
The latest case of burning of a vehicle with RKS plates in the North took place on 8 November. According to a police statement, the owner of the vehicle is a Serb national from the municipality of Zvecan.
They must not speak publicly about injustice
Another worker at a Kosovo institution in the north claims in an interview with RFE/RL that she did not leave her job voluntarily. The RFE/RL knows her identity but is not revealing it because she also insisted on anonymity. She says that “everyone is asking God to sort out the situation and get back to work”.
“Does anyone think otherwise,” she continues.
An employee of a municipality in northern Kosovo testifies to this. He stresses that they are not allowed to speak publicly about the “injustice” that has happened to them.
“It’s just gossiped about, gossiped about in the pub, not so publicly that you can talk somewhere … only to someone you know and to make sure that no one sees you”, he states.
In addition to the judicial staff, the mayors of the municipalities of Severna Mitrovica, Leposavic, Zvečan and Zubin Potok, as well as municipal workers and members of the Kosovo Police from the Serbian community, have also tendered their resignations.
“Emotional farewell”
Lawyer Marko Jakšić, who was an employee of the Basic Court in Mitrovica until November 7, told RFE/RL that the departure was very emotional, and that everyone in that judicial institution cooperated, regardless of ethnicity.
“Together we built this court for the benefit of all citizens in the region, Albanians, Serbs and everyone else,” he said, adding that “wrong decisions” by Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti “led to people cried buckets, no matter what their ethnicity.”
He stressed that the staff of the court would remain friends regardless of the political situation.
“They did not quarrel among themselves, they are what they were on Friday – colleagues and friends, and that is what they will remain,” Jakšić said, adding that he believes they will not be left without income.
From 500 euro salary to 160 aid from Belgrade
All RFE/RL interviewees are worried about their future and the future of their families, as they do not know how they will survive without salaries, and stress that they all have loans that they do not know how to repay.
A municipal worker says that his wife also worked in one of Kosovo’s institutions, leaving her and their two underage children without an income.
“What is happening is that those of us who do not leave these (Kosovo) institutions will be traitors. This is a shame”, says the interlocutor, who also insists on anonymity.
“Everyone has two loans”
A justice worker reveals that official Belgrade has provided them with a temporary payment of 20,000 dinars, which is about 160 euros.
“It is simply impossible to live on this, even to survive. I have a loan of more than 6,000 euros and I don’t know how I am going to pay it back. It’s really horrible,” she continues.
The average salary of these workers within the Kosovo system is around 500 euros.
Official Belgrade has supported the withdrawal of Serbs from Kosovo’s institutions, and on 7 November, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that the Serbian people in Kosovo would not be left without support, but did not specify what concrete support he would receive.
RFE/RL asked the Kosovo Office to comment on the testimony of some workers that they did not leave the institution voluntarily and whether they would be compensated for material damages, but no reply had been received by the time of finalisation of the text.
The RFE/RL tried to contact Srpska lista, but without success.
On the other hand, one of RFE/RL interlocutors says that on 7 November Serbia asked them to clarify how much their income is in the Kosovo system and what their loan instalment is.
” Everyone has two loans. Believe me, we all feel like crying,” he says.
Serbian List officials have not been left without salaries
The interlocutors also blame Serbian political representatives of the Serbian List for the new situation, some of them pointing out that “they can give up one salary when they have several”.
Senior Serbian List officials have also resigned from the Assembly and the Kosovo government, but they have not been deprived of their monthly salaries, as they have at least one more salary from the Serbian budget.
The Serbian List is the leading party of Kosovo Serbs, founded in 2013 with the support of Belgrade, and since then has participated in all Kosovo institutions at central and local level.
For example, in March 2022, Serbian List President Goran Rakić declared around €1,100 in income to the Kosovo Anti-Corruption Agency for his position as Minister for communities and return in the Kosovo government.
He also receives another €800 from the Serbian budget for his position as Director of the Public Utility Company “Standard” in North Mitrovica and for an “engagement” at the University of Economics and Professional Studies.
There is also Igor Simic, Vice-President of the Serbian List, who until now has been a Member of Parliament in the Kosovo system, for which he received around €1 800 per month.
In the Serbian system, he also holds the post of Head of Directorate at the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund and is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Economics in North Mitrovica. For these two functions he receives a salary of around €1500.
How did the Serbs left the institutions?
Departure of Serbs from Kosovo institutions came after the dismissal of Nenad Đurić, Director of Police for the Northern Region, for refusing to implement a government decision to re-register cars.
As of 1 November, the Kosovo government launched a plan to re-register Serbian-issued vehicles for towns in Kosovo, mainly KM (Kosovska Mitrovica) plates, and the plan is to transfer them to the RKS in three phases.
In the first, drivers are warned, in the second they hand out 150 euro fines, and in the third they hand out test plates.
From April next year, only RKS (Republic of Kosovo) plates should be in use.
On 7 November, Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti said that the work of the institutions in the North was continuing regardless of recent events. He stated that threats and efforts by Serbia and President Aleksandar Vučić to destabilize the situation in Kosovo have increased in recent days, and that “threats are directed at our citizens by sowing fear and panic.”
Earlier, Kurti called on the Serbs not to leave the institutions of Kosovo, because in this way, according to him, the services and protection of citizens are weakened./REL/
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