Kosovo Serbs' view of new constitution depends on their location

20/06/2008

The new Kosovo constitution's coming into effect on June 15th has sparked different reactions among the Kosovo Serbs, and their opinion largely depends on the location of their settlements in Kosovo.

By Igor Jovanovic for Southeast European Times in Belgrade -- 20/06/08

"The founding of a Serb assembly is a sign that the Serb community has no intention of entering conflicts," Serbian Minister for Kosovo and Metohija Slobodan Samardzic said. [Getty Images]

Serbs from northern Kosovo, who have close economic and geographic ties with Serbia, have announced they will not abide by the new constitution or the laws stemming from it. Nebojsa Jovic, one of the Serb leaders from northern Kosovo, which has the biggest Serb municipalities, said that recognising the Kosovo constitution would mean recognising the new state's independence, which Belgrade adamantly opposes.

Jovic also announced that on June 28th, Kosovo Serbs will proclaim their assembly in Kosovo, which will be a response to the constitution adopted by Pristina.

However, Serbs living in central and southern Kosovo surrounded by Albanian municipalities say it will be impossible to ignore certain provisions of the Kosovo constitution and the laws derived from it.

The constitution mandates that Kosovo Serbs will have to obtain new IDs, passports, drivers' licenses, license plates, etc. Ignoring those provisions would lead to the complete isolation of Serbs in their enclaves in central and southern Kosovo. Some 60% of the remaining 130,000 Kosovo Serbs live in those enclaves.

Serb National Council of Central Kosovo Chairwoman Rada Trajkovic has said that the Kosovo Serbs will have to abide by the new laws and constitution or be ready for daily conflicts with the law and the Pristina authorities.

Trajkovic added that the Serbs may never accept Kosovo's independence, but that they will still have to implement the law. It will take considerable support from the international community and Belgrade to help the Kosovo Serbs overcome the new situation, she said.

Serbian Minister for Kosovo and Metohija Slobodan Samardzic defended the decision to convene a Kosovo Serb assembly. "The founding of a Serb assembly is a sign that the Serb community has no intention of entering conflicts but wants to arrange its life in accordance with international law and the Serbian constitution," the minister said.

But Trajkovic believes that the formation of that new assembly will have only psychological, not legislative, importance in Kosovo.

"That may be a sign that we have become organised and are responding to the new situation, but in the executive and legislative sense the assembly will not mean anything, because it will not be an institution and the people in it will not be able to raise their local legitimacy to the level of Kosovo's," Trajkovic said.