Serbs “nonbesnics” from Kosovo that “breaks into Serbia's constitutional order”

As representatives of the Serbian List enjoy Belgrade's support to participate in Kosovo institutions, even when swearing in the Constitution of Kosovo, other members of the Kosovo Serb community are banned, arrested or questioned, under suspicion of violating Serbia's constitutional order.

One of the last cases when Serbs from Kosovo were detained in Serbia occurred on April 17th, when at least five members of the Kosovo Police of Serbian Nationality were carried out “the security developments of the Republic of Serbia”.

Even deputy director general of the Kosovo Police, Dejan Jankoviq, has been pronounced the detention measure for 48 hours. However, he has been released on the evening of April 18th.

Kosovo authorities announced that Serbs detained by Kosovo are charged with “violation of Serbia's constitutional order”.

The lawyer from Belgrade, Bozo Prelevic, told Radio Free Europe (REL) that all those Serbs from Kosovo, who do not follow the policies of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, could be charged with violating Serbia's constitutional order.

“Plus, no one will answer who follows party policy, despite that party policy being deeply unconstitutional, illegal and so on”, he points out.

Even Serbian politician from Kosovo Rada Trajkovic, who lives in Belgrade, considers that Serbian authorities “are exercising pressure” on all Kosovo Serbs who are not “bescinct to Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq.

All those who are not loyal to Vuciki and have communication with Kosovo institutions are on the blacklist in Serbia”, Trajkovic says.

Vuciq is one of the founders of the Serbian Progressive Party in Belgrade, as well as of the Serbian List in Kosovo.

This largest party of Serbs in Kosovo is the only one who has the official Belgrade support for its action and participation in Kosovo institutions.

Does the Serbian List violate Serbia's constitutional order?

Since its founding in 2013, the Serbian List has won in all local and central elections in Kosovo.

By November 2022, when he made his decision to leave Kosovo institutions, the Serbian List led the ten Serb-dominated municipalities, had ten deputies in the Kosovo Assembly, as well as ministerial positions in Government.

Currently, this party has power in six Serb-run municipalities south of the Iber River and has nine deputies in the Assembly, because after the resignations, they received their mandates again not to go into the hands of other political parties.

According to the Kosovo Constitution, Serbs have ten guaranteed seats in the Assembly.

However, to receive their mandates, they must first take the oath, in which, among other things, it is written “that they will protect the Constitution and the laws of the Republic of Kosovo, and protect territorial integrity”.

Voting such an oath is contrary to Serbia's Constitution, which considers Kosovo an autonomous province and constituent part of Serbia.
Kosovo declared its independence in 2008, which Serbia does not recognise.

However, under the agreement reached under the normalisation dialogue, which is under the European Union's mediation, Serbia has accepted Kosovo documents, diplomas, license plates, state and similar symbols.

Are authorities in Serbia violating their Constitution?

The lawyer from Belgrade, Bozo Prelevic, explains that, according to Serbia's Criminal Code, individuals in power have violated Serbia's territorial integrity and sovereignty.

They not only participated in the signing of the agreement (as part of dialogue) in the handover of major economic systems to the state of Kosovo, which according to the Constitution is part of Serbia, but also the Serbian List, which, in my opinion, is a criminal group, has sworn in the Constitution of the country that was created within Serbia's border. For this (the oath in the Constitution of Kosovo) have had the consent of President (Aleksandar Vuciq) and the Government of Serbia”, he says.

On the other hand, politician Rada Trajkovic stresses that the Brussels Agreement and dialogue aimed at achieving peace and normalising relations, but the current power in Serbia is constantly violating it.

What we've seen now, with citizens of Albanian nationalism, is that instead of a reconciliation project we've all been looking forward to in terms of free movement we now have a demonstration of a revenge project”, she says.

On 17 April, Kosovo authorities announced that hundreds of Kosovo Albanians have been detained in Serbia for questioning or to be detained without any explanation, which Serbia's Ministry of Internal Affairs has denied.

Why are Serbs from Kosovo banned or arrested?

On 14 April, Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq, said that anyone who violates the country's constitutional order would be persecuted, arrested and prosecuted”.

Such a statement came in response to Sreqko Sofrojevic's arrest in Kosovo, which was arrested on April 13th, under suspicion of violating Kosovo's constitutional order in protests in Zvecan and North Mitrovica in 2021, during an action against smuggling goods.

Lawyer Prelevic believes the ban on Serbs for violating Serbia's constitutional order is a “attempt to discipline”.

Now the question is how much they can be disciplined. There is no one I know who doesn't think they've been betrayed and sold. But, they voted for it, for that Serbian List, so essentially they got what they voted for”, he says.

He adds that “now you can see why Oliver Ivanovic was killed”, an opposition Serbian politician from northern Kosovo.

It was only killed because it deviated from official politics (of Belgrade). Leaving official politics lowers the credibility of Serbia's president in negotiations (with Kosovo). He thus maintains the monopoly of negotiations, but according to my deep conviction, even the monopoly of responsibility for decisions that have been made”, Prelevic estimates.

Ivanovic was killed in January 2018, but the killer or organiser has not been found, though investigations are under way in both Kosovo and Serbia.

“Stop and questioning of Serbs is the form of humiliation”

Rada Trajkovic was detained and questioned several times. According to her, in December 2023, it was kept at the Merdare border crossing for more than 20 hours, without water, food and medicine necessary.

In a proposal for REL, Trajkovic stresses that such conduct of Serbian authorities is “willing to be humiliated”.

This is the situation when you never know if you will get to where you are headed. This is the reality we live in. I live in a harsh reality”, she says, and explains that anyone having contact with her suffers the consequences.

This is such terror as unbelievable. My children experience the same thing when they travel. They get their personal documents, they don't let them move”, she adds.

Previous cases of Serb arrest for violation of Serbia's constitutional order

In April 2023, Serbian authorities arrested four Serbs from northern Kosovo who were accused of being part of a “organised criminal group, whose goal was the violent change of government, or the collapse of the constitutional order of the Republic of Serbia in northern Kosovo”.

One of them was Dragan Nikolic of Leposaviqi, whose wife, Ivana, told the REL at the time that it was a “-execution and intimidation”.

Nikolic was a member of the Kosovo Police, but resigned in 2022, at the request of the Serbian List to resign from Kosovo institutions, due to the Kosovo Government's decision to conduct the reregistering process from Serbian license plates to the RKS (Kosovo Republic). After reregistering the car with RKS license plates, he was burned.

As the motive for the “assault on her family”, Ivana Nikolic cited her political involvement in the Kosovo Serb Party (PKS).

Lawyer Ivan Niniq, who defended Dragan Nikolic, told Radio Free Europe that it was a planned process.

The prison sentence in Serbia, for the crimes Nikolic and three other Serbs were charged with, is ten years.

However, they were released for lack of evidence. /Radio Free Europe/