BELGRADE - Ministry for Kosovo and Metohija harshly condemns violence by the Kosovo provisional institutions aimed at destroying the property of Serbian mobile operators in the province. Ministry for Kosovo and Metohija requests that the EULEX protect the property of the Serbian mobile phone operators and urgently ensure smooth communication in Kosovo and Metohija.

Immediately upon learning that the special forces of the Kosovo Police are dismantling transmitters and equipment of the Telecom, the Telenor and the VIP mobile networks, the Ministry requested that the EULEX puts a stop to this illegal action, bring back the abducted equipment and fully protect the property of the operators.

Ministry for Kosovo and Metohija estimates that by disrupting the Serbian mobile operators signal, the so-called Kosovo institutions wish to create a communication blank among the Serbs and completely cut them off from the rest of the world. We believe that this is a deliberate incident, and constitutes not only an attack on the property of Serbian companies, but also aims at cutting all lines of communication among the Kosovo Serbs, as well as their communication with the rest of Serbia and the world.

By disabling any communication between the Serbian areas, the Kosovo provisional institutions create an atmosphere of insecurity and fear, discouraging returns and triggering a new wave of emigration.

Termination of the telecommunication signal affects the lives of many patients as well as operation of the emergency services. It is precisely owing to the Serbian mobile operators that the Serbian public found out in time, rather than with a fatal delay, about the attacks on returnees in the village of Zač, but also of numerous other incidents targeting the Serbs.

The attack on the returnees in the village of Zac and dismantling the transmitter Serbian mobile operator, both indicate that the so-called Kosovo institutions are intent on deliberately creating tension and putting pressure on the remaining Kosovo Serbs in order to ethnically cleanse the province.

Ministry for Kosovo requests the UNMIK and EULEX to act urgently, in order to bring the transmitters back to function, and to undertake steps in line with their mandates to prevent that this situation is ever repeated.

The EULEX, UNMIK and the international community cannot and should no longer shut their eyes to the real intentions of so-called Kosovo institutions.

Ministry for Kosovo and Metohija requires the EULEX to reason with the Pristina authorities so that they understand that this kind of incidents do not contribute to peace and stability.

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