After Srpska Lista chief and head of the Mitrovica Clinical Hospital Center Zlatan Elek claimed that no document exists providing for the integration of the health and education systems into Kosovo’s institutions, German Ambassador to Kosovo Jörn Rohde rejected his claim and urged restraint from such statements.
Hundreds of employees of the Clinical Hospital Center (KBC) in North Mitrovica gathered inside the hospital compound to protest what they said was an overnight “raid” by Kosovo authorities. According to Elek, police searched the hospital and the local Health Center, including its security booth. Kosovo Police denied entering the hospital but confirmed they had searched the Health Center’s guard booth.
The search took place shortly after a visit to North Mitrovica by Kosovo’s caretaker prime minister, Albin Kurti. In a video message in Serbian released earlier, Kurti told Kosovo Serbs that maintaining separate health and education systems was “unsustainable” and called for their integration into Kosovo’s institutions.
At Friday’s rally, healthcare workers carried banners reading “Our doctors, our patients, our hospital” and “Hands off our hospital!” They called for the right to treat patients without interference and urged the international community to protect their rights.
Speaking to the crowd, Elek denied any agreement to integrate the Serbian-run health and education systems into Kosovo’s structures: “There is no signed document providing for the integration of the health and education systems into the Kosovo system. Neither the Ahtisaari Plan, the Brussels Agreement, nor the Ohrid Agreement foresees this,” Elek said.
Just a few hours later, German Ambassador to Kosovo Jörn Rohde publicly rejected Elek’s statement.
“I want to emphasize that this is simply not true,” Rohde told GazetaExpress.
He pointed out that the April 19, 2013 Brussels Agreement contained six provisions establishing the Association of Serb-majority Municipalities, while the more recent Ohrid Implementation Annex explicitly foresees the integration of the mentioned institutions into Kosovo’s institutional framework under the umbrella of the ASM.
Rohde warned that misinterpreting binding international agreements risks heightening tensions ahead of Kosovo’s October 12 local elections: “I call on everyone to refrain from making such arbitrary — one might even say malicious — statements that could undermine democratic processes, such as the upcoming elections,” he said.
His remarks come just a week after Michael Reiffenstuel, director for the Western Balkans at Germany’s Foreign Ministry, sharply criticized Pristina for targeting Serbian-run healthcare institutions. Rohde relayed that message at the time, stressing that Berlin’s position is clear: “Coordination and cooperation are needed — not further escalation,” he said then.
Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
