Parallel courts continue functioning in the north together with the illegal formation “civilian defense,” which is successor of one of the paramilitary formations in that part known as “The bridge watchers.”
The 19 April agreement of 2013, reached during the dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade and mediated by Brussels, was considered a major achievement, especially with regards to integration of the north of Kosovo.
Based on that agreement, Belgrade convinced Serbs from the north to participate in elections in a symbolic percentage and to take over the local government institutions in a legal and legitimate manner.
However, Tribuna newspaper reports that after this, everything stagnated and remained at the same place that it used to be. Belgrade managed to remove the name “parallel structures” from local bodies acting in northern municipalities by making them legal. The only progress is that a few former MUP members are now wearing Kosovo Police uniform.
While Pristina claimed that it is integrating the north and Serbs there by holding the elections of Kosovo in this part, Serbs and Belgrade consider formation of the Association of Serb Municipalities to be a major achievement.
