Jevtic: Problem of usurped property obstacle to Serb return

FRANKFURT - Kosovo Minister for Communities and Return Dalibor Jevtic stated that the problem of usurped property is one of the biggest obstacles for the return of Serbs, building trust and final reconciliation of Serbs and Albanians.

In an interview for Frankfurt-based media, Jevtic said that he has on many occasions called for prosecution of individuals who performed the attacks on returnees and their property, but results are still lacking or have not been made public yet.

Commenting on the latest incidents in Klina and Istok, Jevtic said that he cannot state with certainty that this affected the reports by Albanian media concerning the arrest of Oliver Ivanovic as one of the chief leaders of northern Kosovo Serbs but it is not excluded since one news report in March 2004 launched an avalanche of violence against the Serb community.

This is the report in which Serbs were accused of killing three Albanian boys who drowned in the Ibar River, which was later denied by UNMIK.

This was the trigger for a wave of Albanian violence during which 12 Serbs were killed in just two days, over 4,000 more were banished and 935 Serbian homes and ten social facilities were destroyed, as well as 35 churches, monasteries and cultural monuments.

Jevtic said that this is the reason why as a member of the Kosovo Security Council, he asked for an increase of the level of protection for returnees and members of other minorities and an increase in number of officers in the field.

When it comes to the Brussels agreement on the normalisation of the Belgrade-Pristina relations adopted in April 19, 2013, Jevtic said that, from the perspective of common citizens, its effects are more political than practical.

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