Serbs Withdrawing from Kosovo Institutions, Including in Northern Kosovo

Goran Rakic (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV)

The political and institutional representatives of the Serb people from northern Kosovo are leaving all of Kosovo’s institutions -- the Assembly, government and four municipalities in northern Kosovo, including judicial bodies and police in the northern part of the territory, Serb Ticket head Goran Rakic said after a meeting in Zvecan on Nov. 5.

"These decisions on leaving and suspensions in institutions remain in force until Pristina begins to honor the agreements reached in Brussels, which in practice means until it rescinds its decision on the replacement of license plates, until it forms the Community of Serb Municipalities," Rakic said, adding that Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija threatened no one and were only striving to preserve peace and the right to "stay and survive with dignity on their hearths."

"We ask Pristina to honor all agreements from the dialogue that are guaranteed by the European Union itself," Rakic said as he publicly resigned as minister in the Kosovo cabinet.

Kosovo Assembly members from the Serb Ticket also stepped down, while Serb members of the Kosovo Police symbolically removed their uniforms stating that they were leaving the service, with the message "enough is enough."

According to Kossev, immediately after Serbs from northern Kosovo left Kosovo institutions, Serbian flags with the caption "This is Serbia" were raised in the streets of Zvecan, and more and more flags can be seen hanging from newsstands or above streets. The situation is the same in Kosovska Mitrovica North, where flags are being distributed to pedestrians in the city streets.