NN (identity known to the editorial staff of Radio Free Europe - RSE) is one of 46 members of the Serbian community who joined the Kosovo Police, after a competition to fill vacant positions in the directorate for the northern region.
A total of 74 of them from non-majority communities started working this Sunday.
"After completing the training, we were deployed to the north of Kosovo, where I have been going with my colleagues every day since Monday," he says.
He comes from one of the six municipalities with a Serbian majority south of the Ibar, and he agreed to speak for RSE on the condition of anonymity because "it is not the same to work in the north".
"But when I applied for the police, I was aware of the risk it carries, especially since it is the north, we all know what the current situation is there," he continued.
In the north of Kosovo, there are four municipalities with a Serbian majority - North Mitrovica, Leposavić, Zvečan and Zubin Potok - where tensions have increased since the end of May after Albanian mayors came to power.
This, as well as previous crises in the north, were preceded by the withdrawal of Serbs from Kosovo institutions in November last year, including police employees. The reason for such a thing was the decision of the Government of Kosovo to cancel the license plates on vehicles, which are issued by Serbian authorities for cities in Kosovo.
Thus, in the north, mostly Albanian policemen were present all the time, and in the meantime, a competition was announced twice for the recruitment of new policemen from among the non-majority communities in Kosovo.
Kosovo officials and foreign diplomats especially "encouraged" Serbs to apply for these competitions.
Until now, the police station for the northern region was made up of four Serbs, who did not resign, the deputy director of the Kosovo police for the northern region, Veton Eljšani, told RSE.
"We now have 78 police officers, 50 of whom are Serbs," he said.
"My job in the police means a lot to me"
The RSE interlocutor states that the job he got in the Kosovo Police means a lot to him, especially after years of searching for a "safe salary" due to unfortunate circumstances that happened in the family circle.
"This (job) represents a kind of security for me, at least when it comes to economic security," he says.
He adds that he previously applied for a job in the Kosovo Police, but also in other institutions. However, he has had no success so far.
"Wherever I applied, I didn't get a job...I really needed this job," he says.
He adds that he has not faced pressure or threats so far.
"Targeting" Serbs again
In the meantime, on July 25, a post with a photo allegedly of Serbs who joined the Kosovo police began circulating on Telegram channels.
In the description, the names of the allegedly new Kosovo policemen from the ranks of the Serbian community, who are called "freaks", were published. At the same time, hate speech against Albanians is used.
Telegram channels in the Serbian language regularly follow the events in the north of Kosovo since the outbreak of the crisis, and this is not the first time that someone has been "targeted" or that misinformation has been spread.
Then, on July 26, the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Aljbin Kurti, said that the campaign against Serbian police officers on social networks, which aims to intimidate them, is unacceptable for the Government of Kosovo.
"Today they are members of the Kosovo Police because they are brave professionals, because they are citizens who love the country and express it by contributing to it. Those who integrate live better, those who do not, unfortunately, remain hostages and are subject to financial pressure and political abuses by official Belgrade ", Kurti said at the conference after the Government session.
He added that security institutions will provide support to all new police officers.
The president of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, also spoke with the message that the Kosovo police is professional and multi-ethnic.
"This campaign must stop, and the perpetrators must be brought to justice. We stand by our police officers as they bravely serve for a safer Kosovo," Osmani wrote on her Twitter account.
Condemnations of intimidation from the international community as well
Foreign diplomats in Kosovo also reacted and condemned all threats against new Kosovo police officers from non-majority communities.
"Any kind of intimidation is unacceptable, and I emphasize the importance of the Kosovo police in representing all citizens of Kosovo," the head of the EU Rule of Law Mission - EULEX wrote on his Twitter account.
The Ambassador of the United States of America in Kosovo, Geoffrey Hovenije, said that the Kosovo Police exists to serve all communities in Kosovo, and that it should reflect the diversity of Kosovo.
German Ambassador to Kosovo Jorn Rode added that the new Kosovo police officers from non-majority communities should receive the support of everyone, especially the municipalities and citizens where they are assigned.
Can Kosovo protect new police officers?
The deputy director of the Kosovo police for the northern region, Veton Eljsani, told RSE that so far no new police officer has faced a problem or provocation, adding that the institutions are ready to react if such a thing happens.
"We will face it, but some things come with the position. When you are a policeman some things have to be foreseen, I think they know that," says Eljšani.
On the other hand, political scientist Ognjen Gogić believes that Kosovo can protect the new policemen in the north only with the help of a special unit. According to him, that would be an 'absurd situation'.
"If Albanian special forces protect Serbian policemen from the local Serbian population. If that were to happen, if they (Kosovo institutions) had to protect regular police with a special unit, then we are on the threshold of a new escalation," he told RSE.
Gogić believes that before deploying new Serbian policemen to the north, a political agreement between Kosovo and Serbia should have been reached.
He also concludes that the arrival of the regular police in the north creates the possibility of withdrawing the special unit, and that such a thing can lead to a "relaxation of the situation".
The withdrawal of Kosovo special forces from the north is also demanded by the local Serbian population, as well as the largest party of Kosovo Serbs, which has the support of Belgrade, Srpska lista,
Last November, 550 Serbian police officers left the Kosovo Police
About 550 Serbian police officers left the Kosovo Police last November.
They were integrated into the Kosovo police based on the agreement from Brussels in 2013 on the normalization of relations.
When they left their positions, the Government of Serbia gave them contracts through the Office for Kosovo, based on which they receive monthly monetary compensation.
In those contracts, among other things, it is written that they "work for the Serbian community in Kosovo".
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