YIHR: 11 years after the Brussels Agreement, Belgrade and Pristina are still far from achieving normalization

In a joint statement, the Youth Initiative for Human Rights in Serbia and Kosovo (YIHR Serbia and YIHR Kosovo) condemned last week’s detention of Kosovo police officers, including the deputy director of the Kosovo police, Dejan Janković. At the same time, they call on Belgrade and Pristina to respect the agreements to which they have committed themselves, stating that Belgrade has violated the one on freedom of movement, precisely with these arrests.

In yesterday’s joint reaction, these initiatives first reflected on the recent 11th anniversary of the signing of the Brussels Agreement.

They believe that even after that long period of time, Belgrade and Pristina are “still further from achieving normalized relations”, instead of the opposite.

Condemned last week’s arrests

They also commented on last week’s arrests on the territory of Serbia, i.e. for the Serbian side – four members of the Kosovo Police, and for the Pristina – ten, with the only confirmation from both sides, that among them was Dejan Janković, the Deputy Director General of the Kosovo Police from the ranks of the Serbian community. as well as that they were all released.

For YIHR from Kosovo and Serbia, these are politically motivated actions.

“Such actions by the police raise suspicions of politically motivated and legally unjustified detentions, which are prohibited by both domestic legislation and international standards on human rights that Serbia is bound by, such as the European Convention on Human Rights,” they point out.

In addition, they believe that, for them, the unjustified detention of Kosovo policemen and similar unilateral actions – only undermine the process of normalization and deepen the gap between Belgrade and Pristina.

They, as well as the Kosovo public, associate the events of last week with the positive recommendation for Kosovo’s membership in the Council of Europe by the Parliamentary Assembly, but also with the Serbian president’s statement, which they believe alluded to.

“The timing of these arrests is particularly close to the statement of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, who just three days earlier at a military event in Belgrade on April 14 stated: ‘Anyone who undermines the constitutional order of Serbia, whether through protests or demonstrations, will be held accountable. This includes Albanians as well.”

They then called on Belgrade and Pristina to engage in dialogue and to respect the previously signed agreements, one of which, on freedom of movement, they believe Serbia violated last week.

“Both YIHR Serbia and YIHR Kosovo call on the governments of Serbia and Kosovo to address these issues through dialogue, respecting previously signed agreements such as the agreement on freedom of movement, which Serbia has clearly violated in this case,” they said.

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