Belgrade reacts strongly after the closure of post offices

2024-08-06 08:14:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The closure of post offices in the north of Kosovo for lack of business certificates and fiscal numbers prompted a strong reaction from official Belgrade, which said that "the government of Kosovo is trying to incite conflict".

After a control operation in the north of the country, which lasted all day Monday (05.08), the Kosovo police closed nine subsidiaries of the Post of Serbia operating in Kosovo.

According to the Regulatory Authority of Electronic and Postal Communications of Kosovo (ARKEP) these offices did not have a license. The closure of post offices provoked the strong reaction of official Belgrade, who said that "the government of Kosovo is trying to incite conflict". According to the police, the operation in the north was carried out at the request of the Regulatory Authority for Electronic and Postal Communications (ARKEP). During the operation "materials were confiscated and by the decision of the competent authority, nine post offices were closed, under the suspicion of operating without a license and they were not registered in the institutions of Kosovo", says the police announcement.

In a press release, the Regulatory Authority for Electronic and Postal Communications said that "in the past, efforts were made to discuss the issue of postal operations within the framework of the Kosovo-Serbia Brussels dialogue, but as a result of the opposition from the Serbian side, this issue was never has not been addressed even though it is mentioned in the Telecommunication Agreement".

According to ARKEP, "The Post of Serbia is not registered in the Business Registration Agency and has no business certificate and fiscal number". The Regulatory Authority of Electronic and Postal Communications is a regulatory institution in the field of electronic communications and postal service, which oversees the framework regulator determined by the law on electronic communications, by the law on the postal service and by development policies.

Belgrade reacts

The reaction of the authorities in Belgrade was immediate, which said that "with the recent actions in the north of Kosovo, the government of Albin Kurti is aiming to provoke an open conflict". "His bandits unilaterally and in opposition to him all agreements, occupied the premises of the Post Office in Leposavic, North Mitrovica, Zveçan and Zubin Potok.

It is about a new crisis led by Albin Kurti, who in this way wants to expel all Serbs from Kosovo, denying them all basic human rights and intimidating them. Today's actions are contrary to the Telecommunications Agreement of 2015, which states that postal service issues will be resolved exclusively through dialogue," says a reaction from the Serbian office for Kosovo in the government of Serbia.

Whereas Lista Srpska, the largest party of Kosovo Serbs, said that "the abolition of postal services, after the abolition of the dinar, is the most serious blow to the functioning of Serbian institutions and the provision of services to citizens in these areas".

"Once again, we call on the international community to act urgently and stop Kurti from trying to expel Serbs from their hearths, because it is their duty to protect all citizens, including Serbs, and not allow regional instability," the statement said. the reaction of Srpska.

The Post of Serbia in Kosovo makes various payments to Serbs in Kosovo, from the funds allocated by the Serbian government for them, which includes: salaries, child allowances and pensions. Likewise, through the Post of Serbia in Kosovo, various payments are made for the services citizens receive from parallel institutions in Serbia, for the extraction of Serbian documents, payments for exams, money transfers, etc./ DW