Serbia Urges EU, US to Prevent Kosovo from Terrorising Ethnic Serbs
Belgrade (ANTARA) - The Director of the Serbian Government Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, has called upon the European Union, the US, the UK, Germany, France, and Italy to prevent Kosovo authorities from terrorising the Serbian ethnic group.
According to a report from RIA Novosti from Belgrade on Thursday, the request was made via a letter sent to the head of the EU envoy for Serbia, the EU special representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue, and the embassies of the aforementioned nations.
Petkovic urged Western representatives not to remain silent and to demonstrate that the values they profess also apply to the Serbian people in the breakaway region of Kosovo and the province of Metohija.
He stated that he would inform relevant international organisations and other stakeholders regarding the situation to ensure full transparency.
The appeal was submitted in response to the detention of four Serbian youths by Kosovo police in the northern region of Kosovska Mitrovica. The youths were reportedly attempting to restore murals depicting the late Serbian Patriarch Pavle and Metropolitan Amfilohije, which had been covered by municipal workers with police assistance in August last year.
The Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated in April that approximately 20 per cent of the Serbian ethnic group has left Kosovo and Metohija within a short period. In 2025 alone, 137 hate crimes targeting Serbs have been recorded in the province.
In June, Kosovo authorities continued the dismantling of several Serbian institutions in the province. On 16 June, municipal inspections in Kosovo closed a health clinic in Kosovska Kamenica that was operating within the Serbian healthcare system.
A Serbian clinic in the village of Staro Gracko sustained damage in June, but the incident was never investigated.
In April, several health clinics in Suvo Grlo and Banje were closed, and Serbian flags and signage were removed from schools in Banje and Srbica.
Arrests of educational institution directors have increased since police detained two Serbian school directors in Kosovska Kamenica on 11 June on suspicion of possessing illegal weapons.
At the end of May, seven directors of medical and state institutions were arrested over a one-month period on allegations of voter intimidation ahead of the elections held in Kosovo on 7 June, triggering peaceful protests from staff.