Serb property set on fire in Odanovce village, Office for Kosovo and Metohija: It was most likely arson

Photo: Office for Kosovo and Metohija

The Office for Kosovo and Metohija announced today that a barn belonging to the Milenkovic family burned down in the village of Odanovce near Kosovska Kamenica, and that it is suspected, since there was no electrical wiring in the building, that the fire was caused by an arsonist.

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This would represent a continuation of pressure and intimidation exerted against Serbs in Kosovo in Metohija, which intensified after the lastest decision of Albin Kurti to ban the Serbian dinar in the province.

As stated, the roof and a thousand bales of hay burned down, while the cattle have been rescued from the blaze, as well as a tractor.

"However, in addition to the material damage caused to the 4-member Milenkovic family, all Serbs in the Kosovsko Pomoravlje District in this way received a message that they are unwelcome. Representatives of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija have visited the affected family and said that they would help repair the damage," a statement pointed out.

Ten Serb families live in the predominantly ethnic Albanian village of Odanovce, and recently a car belonging to a Serbs was set on fire.

The Office stressed that in Kosovo and Metohija we are witnessing institutional violence, introduced by Albin Kurti, turning, day by day, into physical acts of "lynching" - with the aim of creating conditions under which it is completely impossible for Serbs to live and survive in our southern province.

It is further stated that when political structures manifest open intolerance towards a group of people, without holding back in any way and with no hint of being sanctioned for it, then individuals understand it as an invitation to join in the campaign of persecution.

"The intention of Albin Kurti is to force the Serbs to leave Kosovo and Metohija, and the campaign of violence and systematic disenfranchisement will undoubtedly continue if the regime in Pristina is not reined in and prevented from carrying out its criminal intentions by a decisive reaction of the international community," the statement said.

It added that Serbia, in the interest of a humane approach as well as stability and peace in the region, once again calls on all relevant international actors to restrain Kurti and his "chauvinist march" against the Serb people in Kosovo and Metohija.

(Telegraf.rs)