Infinite dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina in Brussels continued in 2024. While the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, and the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Aljbin Kurti, are meeting, often instead of representatives of the delegations of Belgrade and Pristina, the situation in Kosovo is not better. On the contrary.
As of February 1 last year, the dinar was abolished in Kosovo and Metohija. Serbian post offices in the north were closed. A population census was conducted where citizens in the north claimed that the enumerators did not even visit them, but even if they did - some of them would not have participated in the census.
Assembly branches near administrative crossings
Photo: Tanjug/Aleksandar Nićiforović
It is positive that visa liberalization has been introduced for holders of Serbian passports from Kosovo issued by the Coordination Administration of Serbia. After almost eight years, the confiscated land was returned to the Visoki Dečani monastery.
Non-government organisations of Kosovo Serbs they were under attack from the champions of Self-determination and the media from Pristina.
At the end of August, the Kosovo police occupied all remaining Serbian institutions in the north. This makes life even more difficult for Serbs, and they cannot issue or certify documents, get married or take certificates.
Bridge on the Ibar
Photo: Tanjug
In August, Serbian driving licenses in Kosovo also ceased to be valid. Citizens could exchange them for Kosovo ones or they would pay fines in the amount of 500 to 1.500 euros.
A protest was held by Serbs with north of Kosovo who oppose the opening of the main bridge on the Ibar. A strong explosion on the Ibar-Lepenac canal happened recently.
Protest due to Pristina's announcement that it will open a bridge on the Ibar, August 2024.
Photo: Tanjug
Finally, two members of Self-Determination in the Central Election Commission of Kosovo expressed their opposition to confirming the Serbian list for the upcoming parliamentary elections in February 2025. Since this was not according to the law, the decision was withdrawn, and the Serbian List will be one of the candidates in the elections.
And it could go on and on.
the new "normal"
During all this time, practically no one cared about the Serbs in Kosovo. And not only in 2024. As early as November 2022, Srpska lista left the institutions. How did all this create a "new reality" for citizens?
"You can often hear from people from the north that our normal life is moving towards Raška. Now I can't send the package by post, I have to physically go to the post office in Jarinje on the Serbian side of the crossing and do it there or do it in Raška, possibly to manage somehow. It complicated life for citizens and especially affected those from rural areas," Ana Marija Ivković, editor and journalist of the Alternative portal, told Vreme.
Citizens from rural areas are scrambling to get money. "You have pensioners who received money in hand - the postman used to bring them that money - now they either give their cards to someone else or authorize someone to withdraw money for them. "You have an elaborate business, that is, people who take other people's cards and withdraw money from them in Raška," explains Ivković.
The other side of the board
Pristina continues its special war against citizens of Serbian nationality. "It is less known to the public that, for example, taxi drivers in the north of Kosovo cannot provide taxi services if the license plates are from 'foreign countries', as the Kosovo Police say, that is, to vehicles with BG plates," Ivković points out.
"From the perspective of Pristina, that is not a bad thing because they talk about the rule of law and respect for the law, but from the perspective of the citizens, it is seen as an attack on the citizens themselves," adds our interlocutor.
Citizens who run a store or boutique in the north are required to register a fiscal cash register in the Kosovo system. "I spoke with a businessman who was raided by the police under the explanation that he was in possession of illegal goods. When it turned out that this was not the case, they punished him for the lack of fiscal coffers in the Kosovo system. At the same time, in the north of Kosovo, you don't have a single company that can sell you a fiscal cash register in the Kosovo system," says Ivković.
Ordinary citizens invisible to both sides
How do the Serbs in Kosovo see all this? As if there is no place for them, says Ivković. "And not only that, but in such a way that someone is forcing them, without any help, into a system that they do not perceive as friendly."
"We have to remind that until 2013, we functioned in the Serbian system in the north of Kosovo. The point is that no one actually deals with ordinary citizens," Ivković points out.
He adds that on top of all that there are police officers who walk around armed with automatic rifles in the middle of the towns in the north. The police's explanation is that there was an attack on the channel. "It's really illogical for me to see the police on the streets after the explosion near Varag, and I didn't see the police on the streets after Banjska, where it was proven that part of the local community participated in the conflict."
Armed Kosovo Police in the northern part of Mitrovica
Photo: Tanjug/Kim Office
He believes that Pristina is forcing Serbs to "integrate". "Then, as you have Belgrade that does everything to silence the few people who are ready to go public and criticize both sides."
"Here you can easily be accused of being a Belgrade spy or Kurti's Serb, and then it's difficult for people to speak publicly about certain things because you don't know which is worse than these two," emphasizes Ivković.
Pre-election atmosphere
And what kind of pre-election atmosphere does this situation create? Namely, the Kosovo parliamentary elections will be held on February 9, for which 28 lists have applied.
Photo: KossevCentral Election Commission of Kosovo (CEC)
Photo: Kossev
Milica Andrić Rakić from the New Social Initiative, a non-governmental organization from North Mitrovica, told "Vreme" that there is a negative atmosphere in Kosovo because there is great polarization in society. Both Albanian and Serbian.
"Kurti's government is largely populist and nationalist, which means that it conducts policies based on impulse and then incites inter-ethnic tensions." Especially here in the north", says Andrić Rakić.
On the other hand, our interlocutor points out, Srpska lista is facing a decline in popularity. Admittedly, this does not have to be reflected in the votes because the Serbian List guarantees some kind of connection with Belgrade, where the money comes from for almost everyone who lives in Kosovo.
But the frustration with Srpski list is great. "Not only in the last two years. They are seen as guilty for everything that happened before. Especially considering that Kurti is doing a good part of the campaign in the north."
"This can be seen with the closure of Serbian institutions, which of course reflects on the popularity of the Serbian List, which is completely powerless. They are not on the field and they do not send a message that they know what they will do if they win power again," explains Andrić Rakić.
Blackmail
What kind of "sympathy" can Srpska lista have after all of the above? Ana Marija Ivković explains that representatives of the Serbian List are still at the head of Serbian institutions. And those institutions employ the largest number of Serbs and guarantee them some sort of existence.
"That's why I believe that the Serbian List will get the votes and secure the majority of mandates in the Assembly of Kosovo because they have the tools to win votes." Although it is not said publicly, those who are employed in Serbian institutions have an obligation to vote for Srpska lista," emphasizes Ivković.
And he adds: "Unlike previous years, they no longer threaten people, but tell them that this is in the interest of the citizens of Belgrade and survival in Kosovo."
What in 2025?
Since these are parliamentary elections, Andrić Rakić states that not many changes in politics can be expected, and that they will bring almost no changes to the everyday life of citizens.
"It's just that the elections are not as important as the local ones." They would be much more significant," she says.
On the other hand, he adds, Self-Determination incites panic by announcing an attack that will allegedly take place around the New Year. "They see the sense of threat as a very negative and depressing campaign that is not based on the future but on threats."
All in all, Serbs in Kosovo are in for more of the same. Pristina uses the north as a political training ground, Belgrade only remembers when it needs to beat its chest. The only thing certain is that the Serbs in Kosovo are suffering.
