The closure of Social Welfare Centers run by Serbia in northern Kosovo has been criticized by the U.S. Embassy.
In a statement on the social media platform “X,” the U.S. Embassy expressed concern over what they described as the sudden and uncoordinated closure of welfare centers.
“These and similar actions negatively affect thousands of Kosovo citizens and risk creating harmful consequences for Kosovo’s future in Europe and for our bilateral relations,” the U.S. said.
The European Union also responded.
EU officials stated that the status of Serbia’s facilities in northern Kosovo, which provide social services, should be addressed through the dialogue facilitated by the EU, urging Pristina not to close these structures.
The OSCE mission in Kosovo also reacted to the closure of the Serbian social welfare centers in the north.
In its statement, the OSCE largely agreed with the actions taken.
“The mission sees that the closure of the Belgrade-run Social Welfare Centers will impact access to essential services for minority communities. Any interruption to healthcare, education, and social support disproportionately affects vulnerable groups,” the OSCE said.
On February 8, the police arrested four officials from the Social Welfare Center in Zubin-Potok on suspicion of committing the criminal offense: “tampering with voters.”
Following this, on Friday of this week, under an order from the Basic Court in Mitrovica, the police raided and closed the offices of three social welfare centers that were operating illegally in the north.
According to the police, officials from these centers are suspected of calling citizens and, under threat, forcing or instructing them on how to vote, conditioning social assistance on their vote for a political party competing in Kosovo’s parliamentary elections.
