The five parallel Serbian municipalities are locked in the north

The deputy director of the police for the northern region, Veton Elshani, said that the suspicions are that forged documents were issued in these facilities. There was also action in a hospital, in the laundry area, after reports that there might be weapons there, he added. In a press release, the Police announced that material evidence was confiscated during the action and a quantity of cartridges was also found. The United States of America qualified the action in the north as "a continuation of the uncoordinated actions undertaken by the Government of Kosovo that continue to have a direct and negative impact on the Serbian community and other minority communities in Kosovo." The reaction of the USA has been joined by the German ambassador, Jorn Rohde, and the French one, Olivier Guerot

North Mitrovica-Pristina, August 30 – Five facilities of Serbian parallel structures in municipalities with Serbian majority in the north have been closed, after an action that was undertaken by the Kosovo Police on Friday.
The Minister of Local Government Administration (MLAP), Elbert Krasniqi, has announced that from Friday the parallel municipalities of the Mitrovica District of Kosovo, the parallel municipalities of Mitrovica, Zveçan, Zubin-Potok and Leposaviq will no longer operate. .

"Today, after a close coordination between the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo, the parallel illegal institutions of Local Self-Government, which have been operating under the directives of Serbia, violating the constitutionality and laws of the Republic of Kosovo, have been closed," he wrote on Facebook. . "The institutions of the Republic of Kosovo offer services to all citizens, without distinction. They are the right address for all the demands and needs of our citizens. We remain committed to as many services as possible with the highest quality. Citizens, without any distinction, have an exact address where they can receive municipal services, and parallel structures are clear that they cannot operate outside the legal framework of the Republic of Kosovo. There is no place for illegal operation and parallel services in any space of our Republic".

The deputy director of the police for the northern region, Veton Elshani, said that the suspicions are that forged documents were issued in these facilities. There was also action in a hospital, in the laundry area, after reports that there might be weapons there, he added. 

And in a press release, the Police announced that material evidence was confiscated during the action and a quantity of bullets was also found.

"The Kosovo police, during the performance of their police duties, in a separate operation in the follow-up facilities of the hospital in North Mitrovica, during the inspection found and seized; a military jacket, a shoulder bag, several rounds of ammunition, two knives and a sheath/holster for a hunting weapon", the police statement said.

also Arberi 30 August 2024 The US, concerned about the action in the north, says that reports are getting worse

A small number of Serbs protested against the action on Friday. The Serbian politician, Aleksandar Arsenijević, said that Serbian citizens are afraid of the presence of the Kosovo Police. 

"How will we do without the center for social work, how without the municipal public enterprise, how without other institutions of vital importance for Serbs that offer protection and help to citizens in need", he said.

Arsenijevic has called on the Serbs "not to fall prey to provocations, because this is what the authorities in Pristina demand".

USA: The Government's uncoordinated actions unnecessarily escalate regional tensions

Friday's action has prompted the immediate reaction of the United States of America (USA). Through an announcement by the American Embassy in Kosovo, the action in the north has been qualified as "a continuation of the uncoordinated actions undertaken by the Government of Kosovo that continue to have a direct and negative impact on the Serbian community and other minority communities in Kosovo".

"The United States and our international partners have continuously asked the Government of Kosovo to prioritize coordination with the international community and not to take unilateral actions on the issues on the dialogue agenda facilitated by the EU. The failure of the Government of Kosovo to respond to these demands reflects the real and growing deterioration of our partnership", the reaction states. "The uncoordinated actions of the Government of Kosovo put Kosovo's citizens and KFOR soldiers at greater risk, unnecessarily escalate regional tensions and undermine Kosovo's reputation as a reliable international partner."

In the announcement of the US Embassy, ​​it was also said that the Government is instrumentalizing the Police and that it is not keeping the promise of "continuous consultation and coordination with the international community". 

The reaction of the USA has also been joined by the German ambassador to Kosovo, Jorn Rohde.
"The announcement is not a consultation. Germany joins the reaction of the American Embassy in expressing concern and disappointment over the uncoordinated actions. This has to change. We want to remove the measures and move forward in the regional and European integration of Kosovo. No more unnecessary crisis," Rohde wrote on Twitter. The French ambassador, Olivier Guerot, reacted similarly. He said that "actions that have a harmful impact on communities, in this case the Serbian community, are not welcome".

"One-sidedness does not bring lasting solutions", he wrote on Twitter.

Belgrade condemns the action

The Prime Minister of Serbia, Miloš Vučević, has asked the international community for an "urgent" and "harder response" after the action in the north.

also Arberi 30 August 2024 Germany, France and Britain criticize the "uncoordinated actions" in the north

Vucevic, through an announcement, said that Serbia has sent a clear message that it "strongly advocates for peace and stability" in the region, but "will not allow violence and massacre against its people".

A conference related to the action was held on Friday night by Zlatan Elek, chairman of Lista Serb, the largest party of Kosovo Serbs that enjoys the support of official Belgrade.

"Today it was clearly seen that (Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin) Kurti does not like the Serbs in Kosovo. This is another attempt to ethnically cleanse the Serbs from Kosovo, first of all from the north. With this action today, Kurti showed that he does not like the institutions of the Republic of Serbia, he does not like the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority, nor the Serbs in Kosovo, especially in the north", he said.

The director of the Office for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia, Petar Petkovic, has emphasized that the closure of Serbian institutions in the north of Kosovo will have "far-reaching consequences in the normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina".

"Albin Kurti has started to close all the Serbian institutions in the north of the province, which are not parallel institutions, but institutions that should be the basis for the formation of the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority", said Petkoviqi. He added that the closed institutions offered Serbs in Kosovo "a minimum of public and existential services such as social benefits through salaries and pensions".

Earlier, the Kosovo Police said "the purpose of the police operation is to establish order and legality and to stop activities in five facilities, which have been used as illegal municipalities, and which are contrary to the constitutional legal order".

This year, seven other parallel Serbian municipalities in Prizren, Pejë, Suharekë, Istog, Klinë, Rahovec and Dragash were closed.

Friday's action in the north was undertaken at a time when the government has been criticized by the international community for "unilateral and uncoordinated" actions, after last month it closed several branches of the Serbian Post in the north and vowed to open the central bridge over the river Ibër, which divides the city of Mitrovica in the south inhabited by Albanians and in the north by Serbian majority.

The Government has continuously said that they are making efforts to establish law and order in the north, extinguishing the parallel Serbian institutions.

The four Serb-majority municipalities in the north - North Mitrovica, Zvecani, Leposaviqi and Zubin-Potoku - have been led by Albanian mayors since May of last year, when they took office in local elections last April that were boycotted by the population. Serbian majority. Local Serbs - although they participated in the petition for the dismissal of the mayors - later boycotted the process, after the call of the Serbian List. In Kosovo, there are municipalities, public companies and enterprises, kindergartens, primary and secondary schools and public universities that are directly financed by the Government of Serbia, and which are located in the cities and towns where the Serbian community lives.

also Arberi December 24, 2025 The prosecution says that the control of illegal centers in the north was carried out with permission from the Court.

In 2013, Kosovo and Serbia reached an agreement in the framework of the dialogue for the normalization of relations in Brussels for the extinction of parallel institutions, but it has not yet been fully implemented.

Serbia, in the budget for 2024, has increased funding for the work of parallel institutions in Kosovo, for improving the lives of citizens, for information, but also for support for clergy and monks in Kosovo. It also supports the work of the University of Prishtina with headquarters in North Mitrovica and invests in environmental projects.