Civil society organizations and the media gathered around the Open platform warn that unfounded speculations of officials, such as Kosovo Deputy Defense Minister, Shemsi Syla, that “Serbia is mobilizing its reservists in Kosovo”, could pose real threats to human security on ground and further jeopardize already fragile relations between Serbs and Albanians, and completely shatter attempts to improve the relations between the official Pristina and Belgrade.
Refraining from inflammatory statements is especially important now, when not so far away from our part of the world, horrible scenes are happening, that awaken Balkan traumatic memories, and a moment we are all in, compels us to behave responsibly.
We therefore urge officials to make their efforts to address the current challenges burdening the relations between the two sides as soon as possible, such as the issue of vehicle license plates, the implementation of energy agreements and the modality of Kosovo Serbs participation in the upcoming elections scheduled early next month.
Every positive outcome and agreement between the two sides has shown that issues can be resolved in the spirit of mutual understanding and tolerance, with the overall goal of ensuring a better life and reconciliation of citizens.
The statement was signed by:
Aktiv, Center for Affirmative Social Action (CASA), Center for Rights of Minority Communities (CRMC), Crno-beli svet, Environmental Medical Expert Group (EMEG), Forum for Development and Multiethnic Cooperation (FDMC), Humanitarian Center Mitrovica, Institute for Territorial economic Development (InTER), Communication for Social Development (CSD), New Social Initiative (NSI), Media Center Čaglavica and RTV Kim.
