Dissatisfied residents from the municipality of Gracanica, near Pristina, have been protesting for the second day in a row in front of healthcare institutions operating in the Serbian system due to "party and family employment", demanding the cancellation of the competitions and their review.
This is mainly about the positions that were announced by the Serbian Ministry of Health at the end of January, which the Serbian List - the largest Serb party in Kosovo, which enjoys the support of Belgrade - has also mentioned during the campaign for the Kosovo parliamentary elections held on February 9.
Emphasizing that the Serbian List is the only party that has the support of the Serbian state, its leader, Zlatan Elek, stated during the election campaign that “in the past, the Serbian state has provided a large number of jobs and this is one of the ways to survive [in Kosovo].”
But some residents of Gracanica are now claiming that the jobs were exclusively won by people close to the Serbian List, emphasizing that local representatives were promised jobs "until the last moment," and that some of those who were hired do not even live in Kosovo.
Otherwise, several heads of health institutions in Serb-populated areas of Kosovo are members of the Serbian List. For example, the party's leader, Zlatan Elek, is the director of the Clinical Hospital Center in North Mitrovica, while the director of the Health Center in Gračanica, Mirjana Dimitrijević, was on the party's list of candidates for deputies for the February 9 elections.
During the protest held on April 4 in front of the Health Center in Uglar, in the municipality of Gracanica, some of the dissatisfied citizens expressed that they had voted for the Serbian Progressive Party in the elections in Serbia and that now the Serbian state should "protect" them.
“We all voted for our president [Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić] and for the Serbian Progressive Party. Don’t let them [Serbian List] say that these are people who voted against our state... Our president is Aleksandar Vučić, but unfortunately he is being misinformed. The truth is not reaching him,” said Momo Jovanović, who took part in the protest.
He claimed that his son, who has a salaried employment contract, was “ordered” by his employer in mid-March to go to the Pioneer Park in Belgrade, where the student camp is located, opposing the blockades of faculties in Serbia by protesting students. Radio Free Europe reported on March 14 about Serbs from Kosovo who were “giving support” to Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić. Representatives of the Serbian List were also identified among them.
A day earlier, in front of the Health Center in Gracanica, some disgruntled citizens said that they "support Vučić and the state of Serbia," but that they could "no longer tolerate" local politicians.
Among them was Sanja Aksic, who said she was not accepted into the job because the Kosovo Ministry for Communities and Returns is building her a house. At the head of this ministry, for the past two years, is Nenad Rašic from the For Freedom, Justice and Survival party, who in the last parliamentary elections won one mandate in the Kosovo Assembly. The other nine mandates, reserved for the Serb community, were taken by the Serb List.
"This is impudence," said Aksic, emphasizing that she is a single mother.
What do the authorities say?
The Director of the Health Center in Gracanica, Mirjana Dimitrijevic, said that she understands the dissatisfaction of citizens, but that it is impossible to accept all interested parties for work.
"The Health Center in Gracanica has announced a competition for 52 job positions, for medical and non-medical staff. We have 750 people who have applied, and 52 will be accepted. What I want to emphasize is that I understand the dissatisfaction, but we are unable to accept a larger number of people," she said, adding that now is the deadline for complaints, which dissatisfied citizens can use and submit their remarks.
In response to journalists' question to comment on the accusations of party employment, Dimitrijevic said:
"I really can't answer this question. A commission has been formed and I have received this commission's proposal for candidates."
Petar Djordjevic from Gracanica stressed that the number of people who participated in the protest on Friday was significantly smaller, as there were "threats" during the night and morning of Friday. He did not clarify exactly who threatened the protest participants or put pressure on them.
"I warn all protest participants to document all threats they receive via voice or text messages and turn them over to the police," he said.
He also presented the demands of dissatisfied citizens, which are: to publish the list of accepted employees and the commission's report, to cancel the competition and form a new and independent commission, and for the heads of health institutions to resign.
Djordjevic announced that the protests will continue, but stressed that the safety of participants will be taken into account.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reached out to the Serbian List to comment on the citizens' accusations of party recruitment and the pressures they were subjected to, but by the time of publishing this news, the political entity had not responded. The Serbian Ministry of Health, which is responsible for health institutions in Serbian areas in Kosovo, has also not responded.
In addition to Gracanica, the competition for jobs in the health sector was also opened in North Mitrovica, Zubin Potok, Fushe, and other institutions that operate according to the Serbian system.
Serbia has also promised financial assistance for the unemployed, offering support to 5,000 people in the amount of 20,000 dinars (about 170 euros), which was made public last year by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.
Some of the protesters in Gracanica said that the Serbian List has prepared lists for this type of assistance as well, adding that they include "suitable persons."
Assistance for Serbs in Kosovo was provided through a decision of the Serbian Government, which was taken after Vučić's announcement in September last year, following the closure of institutions in Kosovo that operated under the Serbian system./ REL (A2 Televizion)
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