The OSCE head in Kosovo, Jean Claude Schlumberger, said at a forum on property and housing rights in Pristina, organized by that organization, that seizing of the property and houses belonging to Serbs displaced from Kosovo, the requests that they should pay utility expenses and taxes on property they cannot access, and the low level of property restitution represent an obstacle to sustainable return and that such obstacles need to be removed.
However, he praised Kosovo institutions for adopting laws and regulations, which are strengthening the protection of property and housing rights, and measures undertaken so far for the implementation or that framework.
Participants have appealed on institutions to address all unresolved cases which also refer to inadequate informing about expropriation processes and regularization of informal settlements.
