Is Dusan Milunovic, the only Serbian councilor in the new convocation of the Municipal Assembly of North Mitrovica, the new „Serb traitor“ or a local patriot who only wants to help his town from his new post following the resignation of 17 Srpska Lista councilors?
„As Dusan Milunovic, I can set a positive example for people to return to the institutions. We saw for ourselves what happened to our fellow citizens – Miljan Adzic and Dejan Pantic,“ Milunovic said in an interview for KoSSev.
„I claim that no one forced me to do anything. I clearly stated my reasons for becoming a councilor. The fact that there are 14 Albanians and one Serb in this situation may be a lesson for us in the future, how we should operate,“ he said, noting that his decision stemmed from his desire – not to harm the community, but to solve pressing issues, including the ones that emerged after Serbs left institutions in the north.
Why do we have to have only one opinion? These are local topics. I deal with local politics
„Folks, we want to live, I want to deal with some normal things, I don’t want to deal only with whether Kurti and Vucic fought. For me, it is a ridiculous topic. I don’t want to be a part of their folklore in which they call each other a fascist and terrorist,“ he said.
While underlining that he is “on the side of the Serb people,” Milunovic also warned of the danger of placing “labels” on those who have a differing opinion and who only want to improve lives and decrease tensions.
“But it is in their interest to create as much uncertainty as possible. They constantly attack us, and create new tensions, so that we cannot even think about normal life. When tensions subside a little, the outlines of normal life are clearly visible, and citizens function normally. Soon a new problem is invented. The citizens of Kosovo come out as losers, and it is spectacularly presented to us as a victory, and I really don’t know how much we are in the lead now.“
He claims that Serbs leaving Kosovo institutions and the barricades themselves further accelerated the actions from Pristina.
The attempt of CEC representatives to enter the premises of the MEC, which resulted in incidents in Zubin Potok and North Mitrovica, Milunovic described as a provocation from the Pristina side, noting that the entire procedure could have been simply done online.
Furthermore, he also criticized the manner in which three Serbs were recently arrested in the north, citing that detention is only one way the police could have dealt with this issue.
He said that the statement of Eulex that they are unaware where the arrested Dejan Pantic is being kept is “shameful”, calling on the international representatives and the Kosovo authorities to release the arrested and reduce the tensions.
In his words, in addition to releasing the arrested, the way to de-escalate the situation in the north is to remove the barricades, and withdraw the Albanian police officers deployed in the north.
„I live in Mikronaselje, it is a multi-ethnic environment. Believe me when I say that there is a normal coexistence. This brings additional unrest among both Serbs and Albanians. I consider it an illegal decision. It was brought as an excuse to keep people safe… I also see what they post on social networks, photographs of themselves with guns, as if it were heroism. And we live here normally, we don’t need that kind of protection. Of course, the police and the court should return to this town, but not in this way. One small bullet can cause an incident of unfathomable proportions.”
„Should I sit at home and wait for Goran Rakic to make a decision at some crisis headquarters? Do you think that all citizens agree with the policy that they should sit on the barricades without any information?! Do we have a plan B, if those barricades are demolished? Do we have any other plan?“ Milunovic asked.
He underlined that this is why his decision to join the new convocation of the North Mitrovica Municipal Assembly is a form of rebellion.
„I am aware that the situation is heating up, but it will not resolve itself. We cannot stay at the barricades all the time. I made the decision that night when members of the Kosovo Police came to the areas on the outskirts of the town.”
He noted that the air-raid sirens could be heard only after Pantic’s arrest, but not when the previous arrests took place, nor when additional units of the Kosovo Police were deployed.
„The next day, we have the occupation of the northern part of the town. 300-400 armed policemen came from all parts of Kosovo, exclusively Albanians, and we get a media address from Petar Petkovic,“ he added.
„As you can see, it is all about their personal and political interests. That day, everyone remained silent, the people were scared, and only around 11 p.m., we had a speech by Petkovic, who told us how Serbia was going to submit a request for the return of the army to Kosovo. Seven days have passed since then, those policemen are still there, they annoy the people, they probably have some different opinions, and surely they are not happy that they came here either.“
„Citizens must have the freedom to speak up. Since 2012, we have been living in such conditions where people who think differently are constantly presented as traitors. I am fighting to protect the interests of all citizens,“ he noted.
Milunovic served as a councilor in the previous convocation of the assembly in front of Oliver Ivanovic’s former civic initiative, and then as an independent councilor after a falling out with Ksenija Bozovic, who was once one of Ivanovic’s closest colleagues.
„I have never made a single decision or voted for something that I thought was wrong,“ he claims, citing some of the “bad decisions” made by Srpska Lista councilors:
„Was I the one who closed the municipality of Kosovska Mitrovica and created the Provisional Authority, or did the representatives of SL and the authorities in Belgrade do that? Was I the one who integrated the police, and introduced elections in the North? Were the boxes broken until they came to power? Was I the mayor or one of their representatives? Did I give the phone number in the negotiations in Brussels?”
On the KoSSev’s editor-in-chief remark that these decisions came from Belgrade, Milunovic added that Kosovo Serbs were not asked about them.
When asked why he did not do anything while these things were happening, he cited censorship and intimidation of both voters and candidates as the key problem.
„Patriotism cannot be measured by words and their news. In this situation, I am not to blame because SL made the wrong political decisions. My decision is solely my decision. I think it is the correct one, in order to protect the interests of citizens. I participated in the elections last year, in the same elections in which Srpska Lista also participated, and I received a certain number of votes.“
Milunovic revealed that before joining the North Mitrovica MA, he unsuccessfully reached out to the Kosovo Office and the head of the Kosovska Mitrovica PA, who told him to contact SL Vice-President, Igor Simic.
According to Milunovic, Simic reportedly told him: „I really don’t know what to tell you, everyone is doing what they think is best.”
While describing the resignation of the Serbian councilors as an ill-advised move, Milunovic emphasized that the problems of the Serb community became even greater after they left the institutions.
„Just because judicial employees and police members left their jobs, we now have Kosovo police from other towns stationed on the outskirts of the town in multi-ethnic areas. The people are scared,“ he emphasized.
„I think that Pristina is consciously using the wrong moves of SL and garnering points in these cases.“
„The fact that I am the only Serb councilor is a consequence of their work. If some other people, Serbs, who think differently from SL, had participated in the last elections, we might have had the possibility that the entire MA would be made up of Serbs, that we would have an absolute majority. However, people were not allowed to participate out of fear.“
He says that the fact that SL deputies returned to the Assembly of Kosovo, but not to the local assembly, is “a paradox”.
The way Srpska Lista puts individuals through a negative filter in the public is “nothing new” – he warned.
„We are all aware of what happened to Oliver Ivanovic in the videos in which he was presented as a foreign mercenary, a traitor, a servant of another regime. We know where it all led. These are very dangerous topics,“ Milunovic concluded.
Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
