The Kreni-promeni movement started a petition calling for the withdrawal of Kosovo special units from the north, as well as the relocation of police bases, that is – “the demilitarization of the north of Kosovo.”
Why is this important? – reads the question they posed in their request.
Emphasizing that NATO, Serbian and Albanian representatives agreed that there would be no Kosovo security forces in the north, just the police, the movement underscored that KFOR is in charge of security, as well as that according to the Kosovo constitution, the police presence should reflect the ethnic composition of the area in which it operates.
„Based on all international agreements, the full area of Kosovo was demilitarized according to all agreements, that is, all military and paramilitary formations of Serbs and Albanians were withdrawn from this area after the war ended. The security function of this area in the military sense was carried out by KFOR, which consisted of international military forces. By the Brussels Agreement of 2013 (signed on behalf of the state of Serbia by the government led by Ivica Dacic, and first vice president Aleksandar Vucic), the Serbian police forces were integrated into the Kosovo police. At the same time, according to all agreements, but also the constitution of Kosovo itself, the police presence must express the ethnic composition of a certain part of the territory.“
They also explained the current situation related to the crisis of the past year – from the agreements reached, through the withdrawal of the Serbs from the Kosovo institutions, the barricades and their dismantling „before even one controversial issue was resolved“.
Kreni-promeni emphasized that in the past year, five special Kosovo unit bases were installed in the north in a kind of security vacuum.
„This marks the first time that Kosovo forces are positioned in this area without the consent of the local population. In essence, they are militarized forces armed with firearms causing the local population to feel insecure and threatened,“ they emphasized, adding:
„Presenting them as being part of the police just hides their essence and avoids existing agreements.“
The fact that heavily armed and masked special unit members are carrying out the work of the regular police, such as traffic regulation, is completely unnecessary, causing nothing but unrest among the local population and contributing to a rise in tensions, the petition also states.
„Without diving into major political issues and deeply believing that all parties in the area are interested in peace, as well as that in crisis areas tension always leads to misfortune, suffering and forced displacement, we demand from the Serbian, Albanian, as well as international representatives to urgently undertake specific steps in the future talks to demilitarize the area of north of Kosovo, and to withdraw the special units. The only logical solution that leads to the de-escalation of tensions, based on all the agreements signed so far, is that, excluding international forces, only regular police forces shall be present in the north of Kosovo.“
The petition is addressed to Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, President Aleksandar Vucic, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, and EU mediator Miroslav Lajcak.
The petition was launched by the Kreni-promeni teams in North Mitrovica and Zvecan.
These teams of the movement known for the success of its previous petitions emphasized that they would not publicly publish the names of the signatories, due to security reasons.
In the postscript, they emphasized:
„Due to security reasons for the protection of people living in the area of north of Kosovo, this is the first petition where the list of people who signed it will not be submitted, but officials will be invited to send representatives, or to take a look at Kreni-promeni system, so that they can personally verify the number of signatories.“
At the time this news was published, the petition was signed more than 500 times.
You can find the full text of the petition, written in Serbian, here.
This movement previously successfully led several campaigns in Serbia, based on the petitions they launched, which were followed by activities on the ground. They are mostly seen as environmental initiative, but one that sends political messages.
The home page of their website states: „We are driven by the values and hopes of everyday people, not party politics. Kreni-Promeni is and will remain an independent community. Our members come from all walks of life, and what brings us together is a common belief in fairness, solidarity and courage. We launch campaigns that we care about in the fields of environmental justice, human rights, economic equity and democracy.“
Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
