Officials from the Privatization Agency of Kosovo entered the „Rajska Banja“ complex in the village of Banjska this afternoon and assumed control with the assistance of the Kosovo Police of the region north. In a statement for RFE, the PAK general director said that the agency had rented out this facility to the Kosovo Ministry of Interior.
According to KoSSev’s unofficial findings, the Privatization Agency carried out this action in the presence of the hotel staff, who have been staying in this facility for the last couple of days, although they did not provide services.
In the meantime, the general director of the Privatization Agency of Kosovo, Arben Limani, told Radio Free Europe that this agency has rented out the “Rajska Banja” complex to the Kosovo Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Limani also said that this institution has been trying to contact the persons or subjects who used this property for some time, however, he claims that they have not received any response, as a result of which they asked the Kosovo Police for assistance in taking over the property, RFE reported.
Previously, after the events in Banjska on September 24, the Kosovo MIA also took control of Milan Radoičić’s villa on Lake Gazivode.
At the same time, the Privatization Agency of Kosovo confirmed for Pristina-based Koha that this facility is owned by Trepca Standard. This facility, according to PAK, was renovated without prior permission from their agency.
The PAK’s statement, however, makes no mention of the allegations shared by the agency’s head for RSE – that they rented out „Rajska Banja“ to the Kosovo MIA.
The head of the Kosovo Office, Petar Petković, soon reacted to the news, as did Srpska Lista, with claims that the action was actually a „comprehensive occupation of the north of Kosovo and Metohija“.
„Controversial move by the Privatization Agency of Kosovo that will lead to further animosity toward the Kosovo authorities among residents in the north“ – the Coordinator of the Working Group for Chapter 35 of the National Convention on the European Unions, Dragisa Mijačić, commented on today’s events.
Mijačić also said that it is impossible to normalize life in the northern municipalities „under such circumstances of institutional violence and selective use of special police units“ by the Kosovo government.
Moreover, he also claims that today’s events are another proof of the „failure of the project of building a multi-ethnic society in Kosovo“ based on the principles of responsible power distribution among ethnic communities.
„Which was the basis of the Western powers to recognize Kosovo’s independence. Instead, another Albanian state was created in the Balkans,“ Mijačić wrote on the X social network.
Lawyer and human rights activist Milan Antonijević issued similar allegations, saying that the international community, in addition to protecting the people, must also protect the property of Serbs in Kosovo.
„The international community must first of all protect the people and then the property of the Serbs in Kosovo,“ wrote Antonijević on the X social network.
He noted that the normalization of relations and the de-escalation of the conflict between Belgrade and Pristina must be demanded, reminding that the EU and the US introduced measures against Pristina.
„Will Pristina get new sanctions?“ – he wondered.
The „Rajska Banja“ complex has been closed since September 24, following an armed conflict between the Serbs and the Kosovo Police in the village of Banjska.
The complex was searched by the police on several occasions, after the aforementioned conflict.
The facility was only recently built and it is one of the favorite resorts and spas in the north, which was constructed with the funds of the Republic of Serbia.
Construction of the facility began in 2015, and its doors were opened in 2019. According to earlier confirmations from Serbian institutions, the Garni SPA Hotel facility with an area of 1,227 square meters has accommodation capacity in the form of four apartments and eleven double rooms, with accompanying facilities (hall, reception, lobby, restaurant, kitchen, sanitary block, vertical and horizontal communication, technical area).
The value of the project was estimated at around 121 million dinars, the then president of the Provisional Authority of the Municipality of Zvecan, Ivan Todosijević, confirmed at the time. Marko Djurić, the former head of the Kosovo Office, assessed the newly built complex as a „new era“ for the entire Banjska region in terms of tourism and economy.
Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
