“Belgrade is planning to relocate Serbs from Kosovo, especially those from the north, to Sandžak.” The Office of the Prime Minister made this information public, which Sonja Biserko and Nenad Čanak brought to Albin Kurti from Serbia on Sunday.
Former inspector of the Kosovo Intelligence Agency, Burim Ramadani, stated that the so-called “Humanitarian Crisis” is one of the plans Serbia is trying to implement in the north, emphasizing the need to uncover them. The Chair of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia and the Serbian politician from Vojvodina mentioned that they have indications from several sources, as well as from their experience with similar events.
On Sunday, Sonja Biserko, Chair of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia, and Nenad Čanak, the Serbian politician from Vojvodina, were in the Government of Kosovo for a meeting with Prime Minister Albin Kurti.
The Office of the Prime Minister later stated that the guests informed him that “there is talk that the official Belgrade is planning to relocate Serbs from Kosovo, especially those from the north, to Sandžak, where it is said that houses and apartments are being built for them,” and they asked him to “try to prevent such a scenario.”
Former inspector of the Kosovo Intelligence Agency, Burim Ramadani, told Gazeta Express that the so-called “Humanitarian Crisis” in the north is an old plan that Serbia has attempted to implement. He said that this represents covert activities of Serbian security structures and that uncovering them is important. Ramadani emphasized that Kosovo should focus on development and increase its engagement with international partners to uncover these plans.
After the information sent to Kurti was made public, Biserko admitted the next day that she brought concerns about information that houses and apartments are being built for Serbs from Kosovo, especially from the north, in the Sandžak region in Serbia. However, she requested that these pieces of information be verified.
“As someone who has dealt with refugee issues since the 1990s, I remind you that there have always been rumors that later resulted in exodus or population displacement,” Biserko said in a statement to Radio Free Europe. “We told the Government of Kosovo that it should pay attention to these pieces of information and do everything possible to ensure that the Serbian population remains in the north of Kosovo,” Biserko said.
Former President of the Social Democratic Party of Vojvodina, Nenad Čanak, said in an interview with the independent Serbian newspaper “Danas” that the information about the possible relocation of Serbs from northern Kosovo to Sandžak was received from several sources. He mentioned that they considered it important to inform the Kosovo Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, as he has a duty to ensure the safety of Serbs in Kosovo. Čanak also referred to the “intense preparations” and the “removal of the university from northern Kosovo” as elements that indicate the direction of these plans. “To avoid surprises later, we felt it was important to inform Kurti in advance,” Čanak said.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić dismissed the information about the possible relocation of Serbs from northern Kosovo to Sandžak as a “circus” and rejected it, stating that Serbs from Kosovo will remain in Kosovo despite the wishes of Albin Kurti, Nenad Čanak, Sonja Biserko, and many others. “I wouldn’t have thought of such a thing. In short, these are nonsense,” Vučić said on Monday from Republika Srpska in Bosnia, responding to journalists’ questions about the topic.
The population number in the north is unclear, as Serbs in four municipalities there boycotted the population registration this spring. The Kosovo Statistics Agency reported that only around 6,500 people responded to the registration.
Photo: AFP – Special units of the Kosovo Police securing the area near the Jarinje border crossing on September 20, 2021.
