During the past weeks, the Serb community in and outside Kosovo has marked the holiday of Vidovdan with cultural events and religious services throughout Kosovo. On Sunday 28 June, the annual celebrations surrounding Vidovdan concluded with a memorial service at Gazimestan. No incidents were reported either by police or by media. This is a highly significant step towards normalisation of ethnic relations in Kosovo, even in relation to politically charged commemorations such as Vidovdan. The latest update to our Kosovo Community Issues Monitor analyses the factors that contributed to this positive development.

In the night of 17–18 May, Kosovo Serb inhabitants who had recently returned to the villages of Bicë/Biča and Grapc/Grabac in the municipality of Klinë/Klina, were reported to have been victims of a series of robberies and verbal abuses by unknown assailants. These are the most recent additions to a number of similar incidents involving Serb returnees in the municipality of Klinë/Klina. The Kosovo Police is investigating the incidents, and on Tuesday, it announced that it has arrested seven individuals suspected to be behind the latest robberies and attacks. Events of this nature, even if not always primarily ethnically-motivated, are intolerable and they create an atmosphere of fear and insecurity for Kosovo Serbs inhabitants and especially returnees in Klinë/Klina and elsewhere in Kosovo.

On 6 May, the Gorani community traditionally gathers on the hills and in the villages of the Gora region to celebrate the beginning of spring. This day is considered the national holiday of the Gorani and has been recognised as a memorial day by Kosovo Law.

On 4 May, a Kosovo Serbian inhabitant of the village Pasjane/Pasjan in the municipality of Parteš/Partesh, was reported to have been stabbed by two Kosovo Albanian inhabitants of the neighbouring village of Vllashticë/Vlaštica in what appears to be a case of road rage. Luckily, the victim is not in danger and is recovering from his wounds. The Kosovo Police has reacted swiftly and identified and arrested the two suspected attackers. Upon investigation, the police issued a statement reporting that the incident happened following a car accident during an overtaking manoeuvre, which resulted in verbal aggression and a subsequent fight. The case is now at the Municipal Court of Gjilan/Gnjilane where the perpetrators are accused of attempted murder.

May 4th marked the end of a deadlock between Kosovo’s four Serb-majority northern municipalities and the central government on the status of the municipal budgets in Zveçan/Zvečan, Zubin Potok, Leposaviq/Leposavić and Mitrovicë/Mitrovica North. The stalemate began on February 28th, after the municipalities failed to reach an agreement regarding the exact amount to be allocated to each municipality by the central government as part of the 2015 Kosovo budget. After prolonged discussions and following another round of meetings within the Brussels dialogue, the municipal budgets were modified to be in line with the legal framework and in accordance with the budgets designed by the central government. This political update presents an overview of the causes of the stalemate, incorporating arguments from both sides of the debate, and provides several recommendations on how to avoid similar political deadlocks in the future.

In light of the recent outburst of violence in Mitrovicë/Mitrovica, ECMI Kosovo affirms its position that it is of imperative importance that all incidents are examined individually by the relevant authorities, in a speedy and transparent manner, to prevent further incidents and increase the faith of all citizens in the rule of law. As so often happens, the incidents have quickly been interpreted to be ethnically motivated, although there are no sound grounds to reach such conclusions.