Kosovo¶
The Kosovo cases show sovereignty asserted through police action against institutions that served a minority’s ties across the border. The government frames the closures as law enforcement on administrative grounds, and acts outside the dialogue the international mediators prefer and, in part, without its own prosecutors’ approval. Each closure is an assertion of the state and, for those who used the offices, a statement that their ties are a police matter.
The clerk’s briefs¶
From the clerks, for the Patrician’s eyes
Worth a look. Serbs in the north lose services they relied on, from payments to benefits, and must turn to Kosovo’s institutions or do without; some may leave. The state across the border gains a persecution story, and the mediators lose standing each time a decision bypasses them. A police force that has acted without the prosecutor’s approval may find it easier the next time. Services from Kosovo’s own institutions on terms the minority can accept, or a settlement through the dialogue, would lower the cost; more closures without them would raise it.
January 2025: The rest of the offices¶
On 15 January 2025 Kosovo said it had closed the remaining Serbia-run post and tax offices in ten municipalities. BIRN learned that Kosovo’s prosecution had “declined to approve the police operation in the Pristina region”, for reasons not made public. The clerks note that in part of the operation the police acted without the prosecutor’s approval.
August 2024: The parallel offices closed¶
At the end of August 2024 Kosovo police raided five premises in the Serb-majority north run by Serbia-backed parallel institutions, closing the parallel municipalities of North Mitrovica, Zubin Potok, Leposavic and Zvecan and the parallel offices of the Mitrovica District. Police said they had information that falsified documents were being issued there. The UN mission’s head, Caroline Ziadeh, expressed “deep concern about these unilateral actions” and asked for such decisions to be made within the EU-facilitated dialogue. The UN Secretary-General’s report records that police had already closed all nine Post of Serbia offices in the north on 5 August for operating without a licence, cutting money transfers, the payment of utility bills and social benefits, and payments for Serbian-run schools and hospitals. The clerks note that the closures were carried out by the police, and the objections came from the international mediators.