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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Strengthening Serbian institutions in Kosovo

Belgrade, 3 August 2009

Serbian Minister for Kosovo-Metohija Goran Bogdanovic said that Serbia will continue to strengthen all its functioning institutions in Kosovo because the interim or unilaterally formed institutions of Kosovo cannot provide services to Serbs in the province.

File photo of Goran Bogdanovic

Author: Fonet

In an interview with the daily Vecernje Novosti, the Minister said that Serbia will invest in Serb areas in Kosovo in order to make everyday life easier for Serbs and other non-Albanians, adding that these investments will primarily be made in education and health.

Investment in education and health in Kosovo:

It is our plan to properly equip every school attended by Serbian students so that the students will find renovated school rooms when the next school year starts. We have allocated RSD 60 million for this purpose. Unfortunately a large number of schools in Kosovo were abandoned and destroyed. Funds from the National Investment Plan will be set aside for equipping health centers and hospitals and several kindergartens are being built as well. We have taken care to distribute the funds equally throughout the province, mainly in the areas south of the River Ibar. Strengthening the local economy is the only way for Serbs to stay and survive.

Lack of security for Serbs in the province:

It is clear that our jurisdiction in the province is limited, but we must try to make life easier for Serbs and all those who think of Serbia as their country. We must constantly demand that the international community create an environment where basic human rights and freedoms, primarily the freedom of movement, will be protected, as well as personal property.

UN Secretary General’s six item plan: Negotiations with EULEX regarding the issues of police, customs and the judiciary are on going. The question of the return of Serbs to the Kosovo police force is part of these negotiations and the demand that they should work under the EULEX chain of command is being discussed. After the two meetings held in Belgrade, negotiations concerning the judiciary will go on and we will discuss the possibility of Serb judiciary officials continuing their work. An added problem is the work of customs check points. We are trying to find a model according to which funds will be set aside from the revenues for Serb areas.

EULEX:

Serbia has accepted the presence of EULEX on three conditions: it must be status-neutral, it should work according to Resolution 1244 and it should function according to Security Council resolutions. This is why we expect that EULEX will work to serve all the people in Kosovo. It is only in this way that progress can be made in the province, any other approach will only serve to destabilise the area. The UN must resolve the situation in Kosovo until a final solution is found. In this context Serbia is continuing to cooperate with UNMIK, which is still a legitimate presence in Kosovo because it is working under UN auspices. All our meetings with EULEX representatives are also attended by UNMIK representatives.

ICJ proceedings concerning the legality of Kosovo’s independence:

We know that justice and international law are on our side and of course we are expecting a decision in our favour. I am sure that the main reason that more countries are not recognising Kosovo is that we are insisting on the respect of international law and justice. The modern world must be based on international law.

Return of Serbs to Kosovo:

The return of Serbs to Kosovo is one of the issues where nothing has been accomplished and the international community has failed to produce any results in this matter. However, 1,000 families which have been living in various centers have expressed the wish to return to their homes in Kosovo. We think that their return would be the right test for the international community, which made it possible for Albanians to return within three weeks, yet even after ten years we have yet to see Serbs returning home in significant numbers.

Electricity supply to Serb areas in Kosovo: The issue of electricity supplies to Serb areas in Kosovo will be resolved in the long term through the negotiations being carried out by the Serbian government’s working group. The rule of law must be established in Kosovo so that Serbs and other non-Albanians can have access to justice.