Four days after municipal inspectors, assisted by police, shut down clinics operating in the Serbian system in the villages of Banje and Suvo Grlo, a new trilingual sign bearing the Kosovo coat of arms was installed today on the clinic building in Banje.
The new sign reads “Clinic in Banje” first in Albanian, then in Serbian — with what locals say is an incorrect translation — and finally in English. Alongside the Kosovo coat of arms, the sign also displays the emblem of the Srbica/Skenderaj municipality.
According to information confirmed to Radio Goraždevac and KoSSev by several local residents, the installation of the sign was attended by Srbica Mayor Sami Lushtaku, together with workers involved in mounting it.
Neither local residents nor the medical staff who had worked in the facility before its closure were reportedly informed in advance about the action.
The move comes four days after, on April 10 — Good Friday — municipal inspectors from Srbica, acting on the order of Mayor Sami Lushtaku and with police assistance, shut down two Serbian-run clinics in the predominantly Serbian villages of Suvo Grlo and Banje.
On the same day, signs were also removed from both local primary schools, as well as from the Technical Secondary School in Suvo Grlo.
After residents first reported the incident, the closure was later confirmed by the Director of Serbia’s Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petković, who condemned the move and called on the international community to react.
The action was also condemned by Serbian political parties in Kosovo, although it has so far drawn no significant reaction either from Belgrade or from the international community.
Clinics in Banje and Suvo Grlo shut down, school sign removed in Banje
Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
