5 minutes agoKosovo Serbs forced to attend Vuciki rally
Periskopi(8 years ago)
(8 years ago)Ahead of Serbian President Aleksandar Vuciq's visit to Kosovo, there have been reports of Kosovo Serbs working for Belgrade-funded institutions forced to participate in his rally. Some Kosovo Serb representatives say Serbia-funded institutions workers in Kosovo are getting [...]
Ahead of Serbian President Aleksandar Vuciq's visit to Kosovo, there have been reports of Kosovo Serbs working for Belgrade-funded institutions forced to participate in his rally.
Some Kosovo Serb representatives say the workers of institutions funded by Serbia in Kosovo are being put under pressure to participate in a rally in favour of President Aleksandar Vuciq and fear punishment measures if they do not go.
“All in education have been called to declare [if they go] to university and primary and high schools”, Ksenija Bozovic said, from the SDP, located in the divided northern town of Mitrovica.
Bozovic told BIRN that workers have been given statements to sign, saying they will participate in the 9 September rally and that the situation is the same in Serbia-funded health institutions.
Father Sava Janjiq, the abbey of the Serbian Orthodox Decani monastery, said workers in schools had told him that “a significant Serbian state institution” had ordered them to submit lists of their employees who would not participate in the gathering.
A former Serb MP in the Kosovo parliament, Rada Trajkovovic, also said Kosovo Serbs working in health, education and social services had reported being pressured to participate in the Vuciqi rally.
The “is an unprecedented misuse of institutions”, Trajkovic told BIRN.
The Serbian Ministry of Education, the Health Ministry and President Vuciq's Progressive Party failed to respond to BIRN's request until the time of publication.
Vuciq announced in August that he will visit Kosovo in early September to submit “state policy guidelines to Kosovo” to local Serbs.
The visit will come after Vuciq and Kosovo President Hashim Thaci meet in Brussels on 7 September to further negotiate normalisation of relations between Serbia and Kosovo.
Vuciq has called for a territorial exchange with Kosovo along ethnic lines, an idea that has faced strong resistance from Serbian and Kosovo opposition parties, Kosovo Serbs and some politicians in Kosovo.
Thaci, on the other hand, spoke last week of a “border correction”, saying his proposal for ethnic Albanians living in southern Serbia to join Kosovo would be one of the topics at the September 7th meeting.
