Pristina government does not give up the idea to take from the Serbs the University of Pristina, temporarily relocated in Kosovska Mitrovica. Kosovo Minister of Education Arsim Bajrami, at a ministerial meeting in Vlora, Albania, said that they are ready for “the integration of Northern Mitrovica University in the higher education system in Kosovo.” Bajrami has even stated that Pristina authorities are preparing integration and that this is part of the Brussels Agreement, as it is the mutual recognition of diplomas.
“We didn’t have bilateral meeting with Arsim Bajrami, neither the integration of the University is mentioned at any meeting in Vlora,” says Milovan Šuvakov, Deputy Minister of Education, who was member of the Serbian delegation at the Western Balkans Platform on education and science, organized by the EC in Vlora, Albania.
The Ministry of Education is not part of the negotiating team in Brussels, and it is not clear whether the question of jurisdiction over the University is really the topic of negotiations in Brussels. In addition to Bajrami, Kosovo Minister Edita Tahiri goes a step further – she said that “the Serbian side has nothing to do with the University of Kosovska Mitrovica, because that is Kosovo institution.”
Professor Dr Srecko Milacic, Rector of the University of Pristina, temporarily seated in Kosovska Mitrovica, says that the higher education institutions are part of the Serbian educational system. “We work according to the Serbian education system and there were no discussions about the integration in the Kosovo education system. It is known that the Albanians before 1999 had all the rights guaranteed by the autonomy of the University, so I see no reason why they would deny us the right on our education.”
Milacic points out that this university, with about 11,000 students, is a part of the European University Association, which guarantees the same rights as other European universities.
Goran Rakic, the Mayor of North Mitrovica, says that so far there was no discussion on the integration of the university in the Kosovo education system. “The issue of education, health and all those areas that are essential for the survival of the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija (i.e. areas stipulated by the Brussels Agreement, such as spatial planning, social welfare and economic development of Serbian communities) must be addressed within Community/ Association of Serb municipalities,” said mayor Rakic.
