Kosovo Serbs today, on the seventh anniversary of the declaration of independence of Kosovo, share the fate of the whole of Kosovo society, such as poverty and unemployment.
One of the representatives of the Serbs in Kosovo institutions in 2008, when Kosovo declared independence, was also and the current deputy in Assembly of Kosovo, Nenad Rasic. Rasic told RTK2 that the Serbs then tried to find a compromise solution.
“Our deputies then have not participated in the Assembly. We insisted on a compromise so that our participation in Kosovo institutions becomes more dynamic and organized. After the ceremony, a month and a half, two, our participation was questionable. We realized that we need to continue to work in the institutions, if we had not participated, we would not be able to decide on our lives,” said Rasic.
A former member of the Presidency of the Assembly, Petar Miletic assessed that 7 February 2008 was not a good day for the Serbs.
“Among the Serbian community there was apprehension that it can bring deterioration in the position of the Serbian community in Kosovo,” said Miletic. He says Serbian community now, seven years after the declaration of independence of Kosovo, is sharing the fate of the whole Kosovo society, poverty and unemployment.
“I have to say; today the security is better than it was. This is a very important thing, because Serbs every year move more freely through Kosovo and can live freely. What remains still as a problem are quite closed and sometimes hostile institutions, which the Serbs should approach – the police, the court, some of the municipalities, the government … Serbs have difficult access to these institutions. Still, I think this can be overcome, but more difficult is to overcome social and economic state.”
Deputy in Kosovo Assembly, Nenad Rasic believes that freedom of movement is no longer a problem for the Serbian community in Kosovo. He, however, believes that the relations worsened between Serbs and Albanians.
“Relations between Serbs and Albanians would be much better if there are no adventures of individuals that may endanger the whole system of mutual inter-ethnic communication.”
On the other hand, former Member of the Assembly of Kosovo, Rada Trajkovic believes that now the Serbs are afraid of the Brussels agreement, because, as she says, if Belgrade ceases to fund some institutions, the Serbian community in Kosovo could lose its incomes.
“At the end, their fate will be identical to the fate of Albanians, who through the institutions of Kosovo were not able to provide the safety and survival,” said Rada Trajkovic. She also notes that Kosovo, seven years since independence, is still in the institutional crisis.
“Essentially it is shown that the independence of Kosovo did not meet the needs of the population in this area. You can tell by Albanians primarily, who through the resolution of territorial issues have not settle questions of life and their livelihood. Since the beginning, the Kosovo issue was raised wrong, solved as a territorial issue, and it was supposed to be a question of survival and organization of human life. ”
Petar Miletic believes that institutions Kosovo have not done enough in the past seven years. Miletic said that the Kosovo Assembly passed a lot of good laws, but their implementation is lacking.
“What is the chronic problem of Kosovo society is lack of law enforcement and some agreements reached in the meantime.”
Petar Miletic points out that the official Belgrade support to Serbs in the Kosovo institutions is good. But he stresses that representatives of the Serbs in Kosovo are totally inferior.
“They do not have their own ideas, their mode of operation, or their own approach to solving the problems in Kosovo. They’re just waiting for an order from Belgrade and I do not like it,” said Miletic.
Rada Trajkovic says that in the last seven years Serbs in Kosovo institutions were supported by the Albanians, and now we have those that are supported by Belgrade. She estimates that both were just trying to impose a solution.
“Now Belgrade also, through the Serbian List imposes upon us the solution. I think that we need a new organization of Serbs, which would meet the needs of the people who stayed here,” concludes Rada Trajkovic.
