The deadline that the Kosovo Police gave the Centre for Peace and Tolerance, and medical personnel in the only Serb outpatient clinic in Pristina, to move out of the premises has been prolonged. The premises have been awarded to the Center by UNMIK for an indefinite period of time and that is the only place where few Serbs in Pristina can meet and receive medical care. On several occasions, the Kosovo Police threatened to expel the Center from the premises, and the responsible parties in the Kosovo government have not yet found premises for its eventual relocation, although they have promised. The Serbs have repeated that they do not want to leave the premises.
For more than six months, the KPS has been exerting pressure on the Serbs working at the infirmary in Pristina that functions within the Center for peace and Tolerance to leave the premises. Pressures as well as threats have intensified since March this year. Ever since, the employees and a handful of Serbs living in Pristina fear that the KPS threats will come true. Some 100 Serbs who have remained in Pristina have been treated in this infirmary since 1999, and this is the only place in the city where in addition to receiving medical care, they can also spend some time, read daily papers, talk to other Serbs. All of them have been upset by the news for months, they feel as if the world is coming to an end, which is understandable, as the infirmary is of great importance for them, says Dr Slavica Cankovic, who has been taking care about these patients for more than a decade.
I do not know what to say about this, Dr Cankovic points, I do not want to believe that this is continuation of the 1999 events and the ethnic cleansing of the Serbs from this region. The premises where the Center is located, are at a very attractive location in downtown Pristina, and, according to rumors, the plans involve the opening of another coffee shop. I cannot believe that in the 21st century, there is a human being who thinks that a coffee shop is needed more than an infirmary, and more important than to offer medical care to Serb population that has been denied all human rights ”, Dr Cankovic says.
The KPS, whose offices are also located in this complex, eagerly waits for Serbs to move out of the building. The Kosovo Police has no legal grounds to request our eviction. With this act, those who are in charge of enforcing the rule of law violate the law, stated Nenad Maksimovic, executive director of the Center for Peace and Tolerance. He pointed out that "the KPS did not expect such a reaction of Serbs, who, meanwhile, informed the international actors and the public and are doing everything to prevent the forcible eviction until they are offered other appropriate space for their work. We have been promised, said Maksimovic, by Kosovo Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs that we will not be evicted until they find adequate premises for us.
The Serbs are hoping to resolve this years-long problem positively and as soon as possible. The Kosovo police say they will postpone their eviction until further notice.