By: Zoran Savić
The visit of acting Minister of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade Mimoza Kusari-Ljilja to North Mitrovica has once again raised the issue of the institutional treatment of the Serbian language, as well as the position of the Serbian community in Kosovo.
Although only journalists from Serbian-language media outlets attended the event, Kusari-Ljilja responded to questions asked in Serbian exclusively in Albanian, despite it being obvious that she understood the questions without translation. After journalists insisted that she answer in Serbian, she stated that “today, she would not speak Serbian.”
Such an approach is not merely a matter of political style or personal communication preference, but opens a far more serious question — respect for Kosovo’s constitutional and legal order, as well as the relationship of institutions and senior officials toward one of the communities in Kosovo.
Under Kosovo’s Constitution, Albanian and Serbian are official languages throughout the territory of Kosovo. The Constitution clearly stipulates that all institutions are obliged to ensure the equal use of both languages, both in institutional work and in communication with citizens. This obligation is further elaborated in the Law on the Use of Languages, which guarantees all citizens the right to communicate with institutions in their own language and to receive responses in the language they use.
The law leaves no room for arbitrary interpretation. Institutions and their representatives are obliged to provide translation and equal access to information for all communities. If an official does not speak one of the official languages, the institution is required to provide an interpreter. Although her numerous previous public appearances clearly show that she both speaks and understands Serbian, Kusari-Ljilja in this case listened to journalists’ questions in Serbian but, for some reason, demonstratively responded exclusively in Albanian, creating the impression of a deliberate political display of power toward the local community in an area where the Serbian population forms the majority. In doing so, a message was effectively sent that respect for language rights depends solely on arbitrary political or personal assessment, rather than on legal obligation.
Particularly concerning is the fact that this attitude toward the Serbian language once again occurred precisely in North Mitrovica, a municipality with a Serbian majority population, where the demonstrative refusal to communicate in one of the official languages appeared not only as a political message, but also as an open disregard for the community to which the officials were addressing themselves. Such an approach is yet another confirmation that their rights are respected only declaratively, while in practice they are systematically marginalized and stripped of meaning. When senior officials demonstratively refuse to use one of the official languages precisely before the community that speaks it, a clear message of institutional arrogance, superiority, and political contempt toward citizens who, under the Constitution, should be equal, is conveyed.
The problem becomes even more serious when viewed in the broader context of longstanding criticism regarding the implementation of the Law on the Use of Languages in Kosovo. Numerous civil society organizations, including international organizations, have for years pointed to systemic problems in the implementation of language rights — from poor translations and dysfunctional Serbian-language versions of official websites, to the lack of documents, notices, and public calls in Serbian.
Such conduct by one of the highest political officials should serve as a serious alarm for all political and institutional actors in Kosovo, as well as for the international community, which for years has insisted on standards of multiethnicity, equality, and the protection of minority rights. It is also alarming that such messages are being sent at a time when Kosovo aspires to advance toward European Union membership, while at the same time the behavior of its highest officials openly and unapologetically violates the very European principles on which the EU insists — respect for language rights, institutional equality, and the protection of non-majority communities.
If the open disregard of one of the official languages becomes normalized without any reaction — as demonstrated by numerous previous examples involving Kosovo’s highest officials during visits to Serb-majority areas — then not only is the sincerity of institutional commitment to a multiethnic society seriously called into question, but also the credibility of the European values that Kosovo formally claims to uphold.
At the same time, such behavior is difficult to reconcile with international standards for the protection of minority rights that Kosovo has incorporated into its legal framework. The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, as well as OSCE and European Union standards, all insist on the active protection of language rights and the obligation of institutions to promote inclusiveness and interethnic trust. In societies that have gone through conflict, language is not merely a means of communication, but one of the key indicators of whether institutions genuinely respect the dignity, equality, and right of communities to feel like equal members of society, thereby directly affecting the processes of reconciliation and coexistence.
When the highest representatives of institutions demonstratively refuse to use the language of one community — despite being obliged to provide interpreters — this can hardly be interpreted as an accident or protocol oversight. In Serb-majority areas such as North Mitrovica, such actions can only be perceived as a clear message to people that they are unwanted, unimportant, and that their rights exist only on paper.
For precisely this reason, the approach and message sent from North Mitrovica go far beyond a single incident. It is conduct that directly undermines the already fragile trust of the Serbian community in Kosovo institutions — trust which, according to numerous civil society surveys, has been steadily declining for years. When, in this case, a senior official demonstratively refuses to speak one of the official languages before the media of the community she is addressing, the impression is created that institutional equality exists only on paper.
Such actions directly complicate the processes of normalization, integration, and confidence-building, which for years have formally been promoted as political priorities of both Kosovo institutions and the international community.
This also raises the issue of institutional relations toward the media and the fundamental democratic principles of public information. In democratic societies, which Kosovo formally aspires to join, especially when it comes to high-ranking political officials, transparent communication with the media and timely informing the public about activities carried out on the ground are considered obligations. However, in this case, media outlets in northern Kosovo were not even informed of Kusari-Ljilja’s visit, despite the fact that local media are the primary source of information for citizens in the area.
Taken together, the entire event leaves the impression of an arrogant attitude toward the local public and a scandalous disregard for the basic rights of the community that institutions supposedly address as equal citizens.
If such treatment of the Serbian community is today considered acceptable behavior by Kosovo’s highest officials, without any reaction from actors in Kosovo, then the question is no longer why Serbs are losing trust in institutions — but rather how much more humiliation will be required before the last illusion of equality and a multiethnic society completely disappears.
All views expressed in this text are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff. KoSSev is not the author of the text.
Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
