Serbian leaders: Integration was not discussed in the meeting with Minister Krasniqi

The mayors of ten Serb-majority municipalities in Kosovo met on Friday in Pristina with the Minister of Local Government Administration in the Government of Kosovo, Elbert Krasniqi, but said that "there was no discussion about the integration of Serbian health and education institutions into the Kosovo system."

The Mayor of North Mitrovica, Milan Radojevic, said that they are not competent for the issue of integration and that it should be negotiated within the framework of the dialogue for the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia.

"We, as mayors, believe that this is not something we should deal with; it is exclusively a topic for negotiations and the chief negotiators," he said.

The meeting of the mayors of the ten Serb-majority municipalities and Minister Krasniqi was announced earlier by the former Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, Besnik Bislimi, who said that the next five to six weeks are very important for the integration of Serbian health and education institutions and that everyone should be constructive on this issue.

"It would be good for the mayors to show as much responsibility as possible at this stage, because the well-being of their citizens depends largely on the approach they will follow in the coming weeks," said Bislimi.

However, Radojevic said that this meeting was about municipal, administrative or technical problems that municipalities are facing.

"We also have problems with personnel and institutional issues, changing the boundaries of municipalities...", he said.

Radojevic added that he has not received any response from Minister Krasniqi regarding the problems raised, but that he expects it in the future.

A day earlier, the mayors of Serb-majority municipalities in Kosovo adopted a statement, in which they rejected and condemned any action or activity that could jeopardize the work and services of health and educational institutions operating in Serb-majority areas within the Serbian system.

The declaration, which was unanimously adopted in North Mitrovica, says that “unilateral moves against educational and health institutions, beyond the negotiations in Brussels and the Association of Serb-majority Municipalities” and the implementation of the Law on Foreigners and the Law on Vehicles, “would constitute administrative ethnic cleansing of the Serbian people.”

Other Serbian political entities have accused the Serbian List - the largest Serb party in Kosovo - of having already agreed to integration and of simply "simulating resistance".

According to them, this is an attempt to cover up "years of silence and political responsibility."

The announcement of the start of the integration of educational and health institutions coincides with the start of the first phase of the full implementation of the Law on Foreigners, which lasts until March 15 and includes the information period.

This law could affect the functioning of Serbian health and educational institutions, because those who do not have Kosovo documents must obtain a work permit or license from the Kosovo Employment Agency.

In practice, obtaining a work or study permit can be problematic, as Kosovo does not recognize Serbia's institutions, considering them parallel and illegal.