Pristina announced "second phase against Serbian mobile operators"

The director of the agency in charge of telecommunications, Ekrem Hoxha, said that the agency will be asking the municipalities of Gracanica, Strpce, Leposavic, Prizren and Pec to remove Serbian mobile transmitters.

He said that the agency has told Telekom Srbija, Telenor and VIP that "their antennas will not be functioning in Kosovo after a 30-day deadline," claiming that the companies are working illegally in Kosovo.

Hoxha said that the second phase "will enable a voluntary removal of antennas" and warned that RAT will remove the transmitters itself if they are not taken down by the Serbian operators.

In the first unannounced phase of the action, some 100,000 Serbs were left without mobile phone service in Kosovo for an extended period of time.

The action of the Pristina institutions was criticized by both the Serbian and international public.

Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic called the action a serious violation of contemporary norms of humanity.

International officials in Kosovo said that the way the action was carried out was unacceptable, since no one was warned before the mobile networks were disabled.

Telekom Srbija has repaired and restored most of its transmitters in Kosovo since. Kosovo police also arrested five Telekom Srbija workers who were repairing transmitter and fined them EUR 520 each.

Serbian Kosovo Ministry State Secretary Oliver Ivanovic said that the Kosovo government will not be successful in its intentions of removing all the Serbian mobile operators in the province, adding that Pristina is trying to focus attention off bigger problems with these actions.

"I believe that we will succeed in keeping the transmitters there, but we must put in a lot of effort, energy and time," he told the Beta news agency.

Ivanovic said that such unilateral moves are endangering the lives of Serb in Kosovo.

"Such statements represent a dangerous act of playing with fire. I am sure that the idea will not pass. It seems that such an incident is needed to show that they are in power, so the government can earn political points and show that it has control over the entire territory of Kosovo," Ivanovic said.

KFOR Commander Marcus Bentler also criticized the way the recent action of the Kosovo Telecommunication Regulatory Agency was conducted against Serb mobile telephony operators.
He said every action had a reaction and added he completely understood the frustration of Serbs, as it is not fair to stop their communication in such a way.