Ivanovic: Situation in northern Kosovska Mitrovica is now stable
Serbian Ministry for Kosovo State Secretary Oliver Ivanovic says the situation in northern Kosovska Mitrovica is now stable but the people were "distraught" after Kosovo Albanian government Interior Minister Bajram Rexhepi made his "threats".
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Tuesday, July 13, 2010
He believes that this statements should neither be dismissed nor overemphasized.
"People here are wondering whether Rexhepi is serious when he talks about sending special police units to northern Kosovo," Ivanovic told the Monday edition of Belgrade daily Politika.
"I believe certain precautions should be taken," he added.
According to him, Serbia should keep an eye on the Bosnjacka Mahala district in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, "since all problems stem from that place".
Bosnjacka Mahala is a mixed neighborhood in the northern part of the town, which is divided into northern, mostly Serb, and southern, ethnic Albanian parts.
Asked whether the Serbian Ministry for Kosovo was satisfied with the international community's reaction regarding the recent terrorist attack that happened in that area, when one person was killed in a grenade blast during a protest, Ivanovic said that the ministry was not satisfied and that the EU mission in the province, EULEX, was "working slowly".
"The mission has serious problems surviving such as it is. This was the first major test and they failed it. When we add to this that the problems regarding ethnically motivated crimes are not yet being dealt with, and that they have just scratched the surface of corruption and organized crime, then we can conclude that the international presence, which is necessary in the province, needs to be seriously reorganized," Ivanovic concluded.
