A statement of the former minister for Kosovo Goran Bogdanovic that more and more Serbs are leaving southern province has prompted reactions of Serbian politicians from Kosovo.
Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) official Marko Jaksic assessed that Serbs are ‘silently migrating’ from Kosovo and that such process has now been affecting and northern Kosovo where Serbs are majority. On the other side Mayor of Northern Mitrovica Goran Rakic and President of the Municipal Assembly of Northern Mitrovica Ksenija Bozovic did not agree with such assessment.
Jaksic said that process of migration has started following the signing of Brussels agreement in April 2013, since that document was a signal to Serbs that ‘statehood of Kosovo has been encircled’ and that they are becoming a ‘citizens of an adversary state’.
“It is sufficient if one takes a look of the number of students, not only in northern Kosovo but in the rest of Kosovo and Metohija, and you will see that the figures are rapidly dropping, particularly in the course of last year, whereas in the course of this year figures are expected to drop for some ten per cent in comparison to the previous year,” said Jaksic.
According to him, it is also important that hospital in Northern Mitrovca has remained without considerable number of doctors, specialists, and added that such process can only be prevented by strengthening of Serbian institutions in Kosovo, hence that is not taking place, instead quite the contrary.
He went on to say that only areas which are supposed to remain part of the Serbian system are education and health, whereas all the rest is in fact handed over to Pristina, starting from economy, energy, Telecom, police, judiciary and all other state institutions, what simply means that Serbia doesn’t exist here anymore.
President of the Municipal Assembly, and deputy leader of the Civic Initiative SDP, Ksenija Bozovic said that unofficial information and rumor is circulating in town that 35 students are signed out from the elementary schools, what implies migration.
“Unofficial information is circulating that citizens are signing-out their children and leaving. The head of education department should establish whether the number of enrolled children is at the level of the last year, since that would be one of the parameters. That could be established relatively easy,” said Bozovic.
Bozovic stressed that one should not speculate with figures, instead they should be checked. The thesis that Serbs are leaving and northern Kosovo too, was firstly mentioned by former minister for Kosovo and Official of the New Democratic Party Goran Bogdanovic.
His statement was promptly and harshly denied by the Mayor of Northern Mitrovica Goran Rakic who argued that no one is leaving northern Kosovo.
“I claim with the full responsibility that there is no migration at the present time, neither there are reasons for that, since citizens justifiably believe to honest, open and dedicated approach of the state leadership with regard to Kosovo issue, unlike the previous time when destiny of our people was in hands of Goran Bogdanovic and the government of his, than, Democratic Party,” said Rakic.
The head of the Education Department of the Republic of Serbia in Kosovska Mitrovica Predrag Stojcetovic said to Politka that nothing unusual is taking place, since every year certain number of students from Kosovo are continuing their education in Serbia proper in ‘search for schools’ which don’t exist here in the province.
