Protest in North Mitrovica, Ellek: Health and education are red lines

A protest by health workers was held in front of the Clinical Center in North Mitrovica on Friday, following a raid conducted the night before by the Kosovo Police based on a weapons alert.

The police later announced that they had found nothing suspicious.

The Director of the Clinical Center, also the leader of the Serbian List, Zllatan Ellek, said during the protest that the police had entered their premises and the Family Medicine Center in North Mitrovica, "harassing" the security guards with demands for identification documents and information on the number of employees.

Ellek stressed that there will be no integration of Serbia's health and education system into Kosovo's system, adding that such a thing is not foreseen in any international agreement between Pristina and Belgrade.

He called on the workers - who held slogans such as "Hands off the hospital", "Europe, protect our rights" and "Health and education are basic human rights" - to remain calm.

also Arberi 19th of 2025 Kurti warns of integration, Serbian List asks KFOR to deploy in schools and hospitals

"We have nowhere to go, this is our home and our duty is to stay close to our patients. This is a message to international institutions that these are the red lines that they have guaranteed will not be crossed," said Ellek.

He asked the European rule of law mission, EULEX, and the NATO mission, KFOR, to place their members in front of all health and educational institutions.

All health institutions in Serb-majority areas of Kosovo operate according to the Serbian system.

In addition to education, they are considered by the local Serbian population and official Belgrade as pillars of the survival of the Serbian community in Kosovo.

Kosovo's acting Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, declared on September 18 that "the dual system of education and healthcare is not sustainable" and that it needs to be incorporated and merged into a single system.

also Arberi 19 Tues 2026 Kurti: We will dissolve all parallel Serbian structures

He said that in the process of integrating the Serbian system into the Kosovar one, the Serbian community and international partners will be consulted: the European Union, QUINT countries and KFOR.

The Serbian List reacted by emphasizing that "threats for some integration of health and education into the Kosovo system are not part of any negotiations or agreements."

In the statement, this party described health and education as "pillars of the survival of the Serbian people and will remain so."

Meanwhile, the Office for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia, in its reaction, did not mention the possible integration of educational and health institutions into the Kosovo system, but called Kurti's statements about the guaranteed rights of Serbs in Kosovo "inventions and untruths", describing them as "an insult to every Serb".

also Arberi 11 Tues 2026 Serbian students and professors in North Mitrovica against integration into Kosovo's education system

The debate on the integration of health and education institutions was updated after on September 4, the chargé d'affaires at the US Embassy in Pristina, Anu Prattipati, stated that such a process should happen one day, but only in consultation with the Serbian community.

Kosovo Assembly Member and acting minister, Nenad Rashic, told Radio Free Europe that the integration of Serbian education and health institutions into the Kosovo system is inevitable, but, according to him, this issue is not expected to be opened this year.