If Pristina does not accept statements that we will sign, on which there will be no Kosovo insignia, municipalities in the north will again lead interim councils which are functioning in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Serbia, said Krstimir Pantic.
Kosovska Mitrovica – Ceremonial sessions at which the mayors and councillors of four municipalities in northern Kosovo – Northern Kosovska Mitrovica, Zvecan, Leposavic and Zubin Potok will take the oath, based on 3rd November elections, will be held by the end of the week, namely 9 or 10 January, until when is the legal deadline. In the meantime a response of the representative of the European Union is awaited, who are explicit with the view that the invitations for the inaugural meetings should have characteristic of the state of Kosovo, which was strongly opposed by representatives of Serbs from the north, noting that it violates the Brussels Treaty, and the EU places itself on the Pristina side.
On one of the last meetings before the New Year, the EU representatives insisted that the first page of the invitation should have the name of the municipality, and the second coat of Kosovo and the Republic of Kosovo inscription. Representatives of the EU should make final decision until the 9th or 10th January, since it was indicated that the Serbs will not abandon the agreement initialled on 19 April in Brussels and latter agreements of Belgrade and Pristina working groups under EU auspices.
Krstimir Pantic, mayor of Mitrovica, to Politika is explicit and states that he will not send new invitations to inaugural meeting, but he will only re-notify 19 members, noting that the previous invitations that read, “The Municipality of Kosovska Mitrovica north, Kosovo with an asterisk (*), which is in accordance with the International Court of Justice, “and the logo of the municipality (the emblem of St. Demetrius).
“There was a conversation with representatives of the EU, who demanded that the official statements have characteristic of the state of Kosovo. We immediately refused, and I ‘m not going to send new invitations, because I act the way our government has agreed with Pristina in Brussels. After all, if the mayor of Pristina Shpend Ahmeti from all institutions removed the flag of Kosovo and set a Albanian flag, by which the law was violated, I do not see what is the problem that we strictly stick to the initialled agreement,” says Pantić to Politika. On question how further Serbian northern mayors and councillors will act in the case of “déjà vu”, that Pristina does not accept official statements without logo of Kosovo, Pantic answers:
“If Pristina does not accept the statement that we will sign, and which, I claim, will not have characteristics of Kosovo, then we return to the state before 3rd November. This means that the northern Kosovo municipalities again will lead five-member interim councils that are functioning in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Serbia”.
That the official statements have insignia of state of Kosovo, strongly are opposing and the mayors of the municipalities of Leposavic and Zubin Potok, Dragan Jablanović and Stevan Vulović, who point out that Priština again obstructs the agreement in Brussels, with the aim to mine the community of Serbian municipalities, which is planned for the next month, although it is more likely as Politika learns unofficially, that it will not begin to operate until March.
Dragan Jablanović to Politika says that the sessions will continue with or without a response from the EU, and it is quite certain that the invitations and the official statements, which the mayors and councillors sign after the status-neutral oath there will be no insignia of the Kosovo’s statehood.
“We were clear in a meeting with representatives of the EU that the invitations and the statements can only have name of the Municipality and Kosovo with an asterisk, which is in accordance with UNSC Resolution 1244 and the Agreement on the representation of Kosovo,” Jablanović said to Politika, who is Mayor of Leposavic.
Stevan Vulović, mayor of Zubin Potok, emphasizes that Pristina for the umpteenth time is obstructing the work of the Serbs and the initialled agreement.
“We continue session on 9th or 10th January, we will invite councillors, we will not send new invitations because we’ve already did it, all in accordance with the agreement on the status of neutrality,” says Vulović and on question of Politika whether they will give in if the official Belgrade make pressure on the mayors, and so the logo of Kosovo appears on official documents, Vulović answers:
“That’s what we’re not thinking about, because Belgrade is not going to pressure its own people. After all, if it comes to that, we can only agree that the official documents have the name of the municipality, and not as now, at least when it comes to the municipality of Zubin Potok, where there is the logo of the municipality, hat, a symbol of Serbian farmers, the Brnjak bridge, which is also a symbol of martyrdom in the Ibar Kolasin and four S”.
