In the new Kosovo government, Serb representatives will have positions that will enable them to influence the improvement of quality of life and the position of the Serb people in the province. The main requirements of the Srpska ticket pertaining to this have been included in the coalition agreement to be followed by the hard work on their implementation.
The new Kosovo government is facing the serious and hard work to settle an almost chaotic situation caused by the six-month political crisis and institutional “banditry”. Serb representatives are facing an even bigger challenge to eliminate or at least mitigate consequences of anarchy felt by the Serb people on one hand, and on the other, to create conditions for a safe and normal life, and encourage and carry out the massive return of displaced persons. The Serbian ticket requested more positions in the executive branch, but it cannot be dissatisfied with what it got. It will have one deputy prime minister, two ministers, six deputy ministers, as well as the position of head of the office for communities and return within the Prime Minister’s cabinet – a significant power, and things can turn for the better. The main Serbian demands, albeit partially modified, became part of the coalition agreement. Serbs primarily insist on termination of the unlawful sale of companies and facilities owned by the state of Serbia, revision and annulment of such privatization acts. This practice has particularly advanced over the past six months, a large number of companies and facilities in the Serbian communities were sold, while local self-governments did not know about it. Kosovo’s Privatization Agency used the chaos in Kosovo’s legal system, where legal norms are intertwined and often mutually exclusive. The Agency skillfully used laws or regulations, which suit its needs, and was always „right“. The same law that regulates privatization envisages that there must be consent of the local self-government for the sale of a company or facility, but the law was avoided with reference to the UNMIK’s Regulation that any company that does not operate may be liquidated and sold. This and many other problems call for the urgent formation of the Union of Serb Municipalities that will protect the Serb property and interests. Municipalities with the Serb majority set themselves a goal to “survive until the formation of the Union”, but they are not sure whether they will succeed the pressure and seizure of property are so strong that they wonder what will remain in case this is delayed.
Serb members of the Kosovo government will be also work hard to improve the safety of their compatriots, discover perpetrators of a series of attacks against the Serbs and their facilities not only in the past few months, promote the return of refugees and create material and other conditions. The coalition agreement also includes guarantees given by Kosovo Prime Minister and government regarding the safety of returnees and all other Serbs living in Kosovo and Metohija, as well as the return of usurped property of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
At the very beginning, the new Kosovo government gives the Serbs some hope and optimism. Whether this optimism is justified will be known very soon and will depend primarily on activism of the Serb representatives in Kosovo executive authorities.
