The Serbian community in Kosovo and Metohija is awaiting 15 March with great concern, when the full implementation of the new laws adopted by the provisional institutions in Pristina begins.
These are the Law on Foreigners and the Law on Vehicles, which could have serious consequences for the everyday lives of Serbs who do not possess Kosovo-issued documents.
According to these regulations, citizens without documents issued by the institutions in Pristina will be treated as foreign nationals. This means that they will have to obtain special permits for work and residence, further complicating the situation for a large number of people in the Serbian community.
Concern in Kosovska Mitrovica
Employees at the Clinical Hospital Centre in Kosovska Mitrovica fear that the new regulations could seriously endanger the functioning of the healthcare system. According to them, some doctors and medical staff do not have Kosovo documents, raising concerns that after 15 March they may no longer be able to work.
An additional problem is the Law on Vehicles, which abolishes the use of vehicles registered in central Serbia on the basis of authorisation.
Orthopaedic specialist and professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Pristina with temporary headquarters in Kosovska Mitrovica, Aleksandar Božović, warns that this could seriously jeopardise the work of healthcare institutions.
“Our ambulance vehicles are registered in Raška or Belgrade precisely because it has not been possible to register them properly within the system of Kosovo’s provisional institutions. The concern is enormous because the question arises of how the healthcare system will function 24 hours a day,” Božović told RTS.
The issue of the university
Uncertainty also exists regarding the work of the University of Pristina with temporary headquarters in Kosovska Mitrovica. Estimates suggest that around half of the teaching staff do not possess documents issued by the institutions in Pristina, while about 3,000 students are in a similar situation, mostly from central Serbia. The President of the Commission for Missing Persons, Veljko Odalović, assessed that the actions of the authorities in Pristina represent a violation of agreements reached in Brussels.
“What Albin Kurti is doing, by trying to force healthcare and educational institutions to register within the Kosovo system, directly violates the essence of the Brussels Agreement. That agreement was accepted because the formation of the Association of Serb Municipalities was its key point,” said Odalović.
Political crisis and possible rise in tensions
The implementation of the disputed laws comes at a time of a new political crisis in Kosovo and Metohija. The president of the provisional institutions has not yet been elected, the assembly has been dissolved, and speculation about possible new elections is growing louder.
Stefan Surlić, assistant professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences, warns that the pre-election campaign could further raise tensions in the north of the province. “There is concern that Albin Kurti, in an attempt to repeat his election result, will insist on even greater tensions in the north of Kosovo, as this has so far been his political recipe,” Surlić assessed.
New pressure on educational institutions
According to employees, additional pressure is also being placed on the Faculty of Technical Sciences in Kosovska Mitrovica. The faculty will soon face a deadline to vacate the building in which it currently operates or to sign a lease agreement with the university in Pristina that operates within the Kosovo system and claims ownership of the plot on which the building stands.
Because of all this, fear is growing among Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija that the implementation of the new laws could lead to a further deterioration of their position, particularly with regard to access to healthcare, education and basic living conditions.
(OK Radio, 10.03.2026)