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| North Mitrovica, Serbian flag on the street |
Thousands of Serbian citizens in Kosovo continue to work in parallel institutions financed and managed by the state of Serbia since the end of the war in 1999. Serbia allocates tens of millions of euros to these institutions every year.
Public companies, institutions, kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, as well as public universities, funded directly by the Serbian government, exist in many cities of Kosovo where Serbian community members live.
Although these mechanisms are illegal according to the laws of Kosovo, they continue to operate, even though Kosovo declared independence in 2008. An agreement to abolish them was reached in April 2013, within the framework of the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue for the normalization of relations, but its full implementation on the ground remains to be desired, Radio Free Europe reports.
Only a part of the community has integrated into some institutions, such as the police or the judiciary. As part of the dialogue, Kosovo and Serbia have also agreed to form an association of municipalities with a Serbian majority, which would have "full jurisdiction" in certain areas, such as spatial planning, healthcare, education, economic development, and so on.
However, the government of Kosovo has never implemented this agreement, arguing that it could threaten the functionality of the state. In a meeting in Ohër on March 18, the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, and the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, agreed to implement a new agreement aimed at normalization, supported by the European Union.
Among other things, this agreement provides for the Serbian community in Kosovo to be provided with an "adequate level of self-management." The exact nature of this self-management is not yet known.
In a briefing to the Kosovo Assembly on March 23, Kurti said that "self-management is neither self-government nor self-administration" and added that previous agreements with Serbia could not be avoided. The EU Special Envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajčák, said in an interview with Radio Free Europe that Kosovo has an obligation to immediately begin implementing the part of the normalization agreement that relates to the formation of the Association of Municipalities with a Serbian majority in Kosovo.
In an interview with RFE/RL, the U.S. Special Envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, said that Serbia's parallel structures functioning in Kosovo would be brought within the legal framework of Kosovo when the Association is formed. "So, they will not be led by Serbia but by Kosovo through the Association," Escobar said.
Since the parallel municipality of Pristina is the largest in Kosovo, REL has visited its facility in Gracanica, but access and photography have not been allowed.
REL has also visited the Serbian parallel municipality in Zvecan. It is in the same facility as the Zvecan municipality, created by Kosovo institutions.
In some cases, Serbian leaders and staff are the same - they work for both the Kosovo and Serbian systems.
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The Serbian government regularly appoints people to leadership positions in its parallel municipalities in Kosovo.
These are some of the decisions signed by Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic for the parallel municipalities of Pristina and Suhareka:
On July 23, 2021, the Serbian government appointed leaders and members in these 16 parallel municipalities in Kosovo: Kacanik, Skenderaj, Fushe Kosova, Shtime, Decan, Podujevo, Pristina, Dragash, Vushtrri, Istog, Peja, Gjakova, Rahovec, Zvecan, Suhareka, Leposaviq.
More than 70 Serbian schools in Kosovo
Since the end of the 1998-1999 war, Serbia has maintained its education system in Kosovo. More than 70 schools of all levels, managed and financed by Serbia, operate in the territory of Kosovo.
They have their own curricula. For example, a Serbian student in second grade learns from the same book as a second-grade student in Serbia.
Some attempts by Kosovo institutions to integrate these schools into the Kosovo education system have been unsuccessful.
Serbia also leads universities in Kosovo. The parallel University of Pristina is located in North Mitrovica.
It is not accountable to the state of Kosovo and has no connection to the education system in Kosovo. It is financed and managed by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Serbia.
The exact number of education workers working in Serbia's parallel system in Kosovo is not public.
Parallel healthcare system
Ambulances, hospitals, and other health centers are financed and managed by the state of Serbia in various parts of the territory of Kosovo.
There are family medicine centers in most of the villages where the Serbian community lives.
The largest hospitals financed and managed by Serbia are three: in North Mitrovica, in Gracanica, and in the village of Pasjane in Gjilan.
The exact number of healthcare workers working in such institutions is not public.
Employment offices, pensions, and health insurance
Serbia also maintains a large number of employment offices in Kosovo.
One such office is in Gracanica, where on March 21 there were many citizens receiving services.
Such parallel offices also operate in other cities of Kosovo, but the most active are those in north municipalities: North Mitrovica, Zveçan, Zubin Potok and Leposaviq.
At the entrance table of the object it says: National Employment Center, Regional Employment Office, Kosovo and Metohija, Pristina Branch.
In Gracanica and other municipalities with a Serbian majority, there are also offices for pensions of the Republic of Serbia.
Serbia also has health insurance offices in Kosovo, as every Serbian citizen in Kosovo has the right to health insurance under Serbian laws.
Serbia's Post Office is functional in Kosovo
The activity of the Serbian Post Office is not very visible in Kosovo, but dozens of cars parked in front of its object in Gracanica belong to this parallel institution.
The Serbian Post Office also operates without the consent of Kosovo institutions.
Parallel system of culture
There are many different cultural centers, libraries, and libraries in localities where the majority of residents are Serbs.
In Gracanica, the People's Theater of Pristina operates as a parallel institution funded and managed by Serbian institutions.
In the same building is the Gracanica Cultural Center, which is similarly managed and financed by Serbia.
In the municipality of North Mitrovica, the City Library "Vuk Karaxhiq," City Museum, "Dragica Zharkoviq" Cultural Center - all parallel institutions are functional.
There is also the humanitarian organization Red Cross of Serbia operating there.
Parallel sports
Many sports clubs from localities with a Serbian majority in Kosovo compete in Serbia's state competitions.
Only in North Mitrovica are there several clubs that are not part of Kosovo's leagues or system, such as: Football Club "Trepca," Football Club "Rudari," Basketball Club "Trepca," Athletics Club "Trepca," and Handball Club "Trepca."
Such clubs also exist in Leposavic, Zvecan, Zubin Potok, as well as in other municipalities inhabited by Serbs in the southern part of Kosovo.
Serbia also maintains active public enterprises
Various public enterprises and companies of Serbia are active in Kosovo's territory. Some of them that operate regularly include: the Directorate for Housing and Trade with its base in North Mitrovica, the Directorate for Land Development and Roads based in North Mitrovica, and the public water utility company "Ibri," also based in North Mitrovica.
Their websites show their activities, including road construction, maintenance, repair of damages, and others.
Websites of some of these enterprises where their activity can be seen: http://kosmitrovica.rs/, http://stambenokm.rs/
Reintegration of those who were reintegrated again
Through agreements reached within the dialogue for the normalization of relations, Kosovo and Serbia have agreed to integrate some parallel Serbian structures within the legal and constitutional system of Kosovo.
Over 700 people who worked in the organization "Civil Protection", which operated in the northern municipalities, were integrated into Kosovo's institutions in 2016.
There have been different perceptions about this organization - while Kosovo's institutions have considered it an illegal para-state structure, for Serbs it has been a structure for providing assistance to civilians in emergency cases.
The majority of members of this structure have been integrated into the Kosovo Police.
Last November, members of the Serbian community in the north resigned from all Kosovo institutions in protest against a decision by the Kosovo government to re-register cars with Serbian license plates under the RKS, or the Republic of Kosovo, license plates.