Kosovo’s Most Famous Serb Returnee Suffers Break-In

Kosovo police have confirmed that the apartment of the first displaced ethnic Serb to return to Gjakova/Djakovica in Kosovo since the war was broken into on Tuesday.

Nusret Xhurkaj, spokesperson for the Gjakova/Djakovica police, told BIRN on Wednesday that around noon a day earlier, Gasic had reported to the police that someone had broken into her apartment.

"Gasic returned from visiting her sister in Klina and around 12pm she reported to the police that an unidentified person broke into her house," Xhurkaj told BIRN.

Gasic told the police that some personal items had gone missing, such as "food, one security camera and internet connection devices". Xhurkaj said there are no suspects yet and investigations are ongoing.

Gasic told Kosovo Serbian media outlet Kosovo online: "They also took medicine, and I am a heart patient and a diabetic."

BIRN was not able to contact Gasic.

Radio Free Europe reported that the Serbian government's office for Kosovo would be informing EU authorities and international missions in Kosovo about the incident.

Dragica Gasic became known to the Kosovo public in June 2021 when she decided to return to her apartment that she left in June 1999, when thousands of Kosovo Serbs left their homes in fear of retaliation by Kosovo Albanians who were returning after the withdrawal of Serbian forces from Kosovo following 78 days of NATO air strikes.

Gjakovs/Djakovica was one of the most heavily damaged towns during Kosovo's 1998-99 war.

Gasic returned after Kosovo's Property Comparison and Verification Agency allowed her to use her apartment again, after it had been occupied by others since the war.

In late June, Gasic made headlines in Kosovo and Serbia when it was reported that...