The police closed the facilities of the Postal Savings Bank of Serbia in the north of Kosovo, sharp reactions from Belgrade

The authorities in Kosovo announced on Monday that they have closed the branch of the Bank Postanska Štedionica Srbije and its branches in four municipalities in the north of Kosovo, where most Serbs live.

RSE's correspondent from the field reports that one branch of Bank Poštanska štedionica in North Mitrovica and four branches of the bank in North Mitrovica, Zvečan, Leposavić and Zubin Potok have been closed. The Treasury Department of the Ministry of Finance of Serbia and the treasury of the National Bank of Serbia were also closed.

The Kosovo police announced that the action in the north of Kosovo was carried out based on the reports of institutions for financial supervision, such as the financial intelligence unit and the Central Bank of Kosovo, together with the Tax Administration of Kosovo.

Representatives of the Serbian authorities reacted sharply to the action of the Kosovo police.

In the announcement of the Kosovo police, it was stated that the action took place without problems or incidents.

"The purpose of the police action is to establish order and legality, where six units of the so-called illegal Postal Savings Bank in the north of the country were closed on the authority of the competent prosecutor," the police announced.

Members of the European Union Mission for the Rule of Law in Kosovo (EULEX) and the NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, KFOR, were observed in the action in the north.

The Minister of Internal Affairs of Kosovo, Dželjalj Svečlja, congratulated the institutions on the "demonstrated success" during the action in the north.

Belgrade's reaction

Serbian Prime Minister Miloš Vučević said that the action of the Kosovo Police against business entities in the north of Kosovo is "an act of barbarism that directly threatens the survival of the Serbian people" in Kosovo.

"Who and why does Poštanska štedionica bother? Because of the check, the Kosmet (Kosovo) Serbs are the only community in Europe that cannot do business normally? Do the Kosmet Serbs have the right to salaries and pensions? Or is everything allowed against them," the government's announcement states. of Serbia.

The announcement adds that this is not a question for the Kosovo Prime Minister, but for the international community.

The Minister of Internal Affairs of Serbia, Ivica Dacic, said on the occasion that Kosovo Prime Minister Aljbin Kurti "by raiding the branches of Poštanska Štedionica" by the police continues "terror against the Serbian people" in Kosovo.

Dacic added that "this leads to new conflicts in the Balkans with unforeseeable consequences".

The action of the Kosovo authorities followed a week after the Central Bank of Kosovo announced that the transition period for its regulation prohibiting the use of the Serbian dinar for payment has ended.

Serbia strongly opposed the CBK regulation, which foresees the euro as the only currency for payment.

The State of Serbia allocates millions of euros for the payment in dinars of salaries, pensions and additional assistance to Serbs in Kosovo.

CBK announced on May 13 that after the end of the transition period, it licensed eight branches of financial institutions in municipalities with a Serbian majority, in Leposavic, Zvečan, Gračanica, Štrpac and one in Šilovo in Gnjilan.

The international community asked Kosovo to postpone the implementation of the CBK decree, citing the negative impact it could have on the Serbian community in Kosovo.