Keepin touch

Whether you have a question, comment, suggestion or any problem in the purview of the government, send us your message and we will try to respond as soon as possible. If your problem is not in our purview, we will forward your message to the relevant institution.

The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Fundamental rights, freedoms in Kosovo-Metohija to be respected

Belgrade, 7 August 2012

Director of the Office for Kosovo-Metohija Aleksandar Vulin requested immediate reaction of the international forces in Kosovo-Metohija enabling the Serbs in Pristina to continue to use the premises of the Centre for Peace and Tolerance.

The statement from the Office of Kosovo-Metohija said that following the decision of the Kosovo Police Service (KPS) to take over the premises of the centre, Vulin sent letters to representatives of the international mission in Kosovo in which the centre means security for the Serbs, their meeting place and the place where they can get basic medical help.

If this centre is abolished, the Serbs would be left without their basic rights and freedoms, said Vulin and requested an immediate reaction of the international forces in line with the UN Security Council Resolution 1244.

He emphasised that in most cases those people are poor and vulnerable, without the basic means of subsistence, and often they are old and cannot move easily and should be enabled to continue to use the services of the Centre.

Also, the Director of the Kosovo-Metohija Office called on the international representatives to protect the rights of the Serbian community in Kosovo-Metohija to ensure the smooth flow of print media in the Serbian language, which would allow the right to a free flow of information and the right to information.

Following the recent seizure of free copies of the Pristina weekly "Jedinstvo", Vulin pointed out that any Serbian language speaker in Kosovo-Metohija has thus been denied of the opportunity to be informed.

He stressed that this act of the authorities in Pristina is contrary to recognised international standards on freedom of the press and the right to be informed, adding that it does not contribute to creating conditions that would allow communities to preserve, protect and develop their identity, the statement added.