Although they were approved by the previous Serbian government last October, two draft laws related to Kosovo have reportedly been quietly withdrawn from parliamentary procedure along with 41 other legislative acts by the newly appointed government led by Prime Minister Gjuro Macut.
The withdrawn draft laws aimed to designate Kosovo as a special social protection zone and to establish a judicial body tasked with prosecuting those who violate the rights of Kosovo Serbs, including fellow Serbs, as announced by President Aleksandar Vučić last September amid a new political crisis in northern Kosovo following the closure of Serbian institutions there, “KoSSev” reports.
Even though the previous government had formalized the proposals and submitted them to Parliament on October 29, 2024, the new cabinet informed the National Assembly on April 17 just one day after being sworn in that it would be withdrawing all pending legislation submitted by its predecessor.
“KoSSev” obtained a document listing the 43 withdrawn acts. Among them were the two Kosovo-related draft laws, officially titled:
“Law on the Organization and Jurisdiction of Judicial Authorities for the Prosecution of Crimes Committed in the Territory of the Autonomous “Province of Kosovo and Metohija,” and
“Law on Declaring the Autonomous “Province of Kosovo and Metohija” a Special Social Protection Zone.”
At the time, President Vučić had pledged that these laws would serve to protect Serbs in Kosovo amid rising tensions.
