Residents of Gračanica are scared: "We call on KFOR to protect our families"

Albanians insulted Serbian citizens last night and tried to remove the flag of Serbia from the monument to Miloš Obilić.

In the statement of the Municipality of Gračanica, it is emphasized that the locals are afraid for the safety of their families and adds that such staged attacks on Serbian municipalities and citizens are not sporadic incidents, nor isolated cases, but an organized and well-designed action aimed at causing violence and instilling fear among Serbian population, this time on the streets of Gračanica.

It is stated that in the column of cars with the markings of the so-called KLA and Albania, several Serbian families with minor children got blocked, who managed to get out of the convoy and reach the police station for protection.

"Unfortunately, due to the small number of officers on duty, there was no police protection until the arrival of reinforced police forces from Pristina," the statement added.

It is emphasized that this is an indicator that the Serbian population is unprotected, and that the situation in which the Serbian people find themselves is becoming more and more unsafe every day and represents a suitable ground for unforeseeable consequences that were avoided this time primarily due to the calmness of the Serbian population.

"Our municipality and its people still remember the sacrifices we made, and that's why we are telling the international community to stand in the way of the terror we are exposed to every day," the statement said.

It is added that the local self-government and its leadership will, like last night, always be with their people, and that the Quint countries should show by their example that they stand for peace and stability in the entire Kosovo, to condemn violence and do everything to the attacks to stop and do not recur.

"Kosovo Police showed last night that they are unable and have no capacity to ensure peace on the streets of Gračanica, and that is why we call on KFOR to protect our families, above all our children, who were exposed to fear and trauma yesterday as well as many times in the past", it is emphasized in the statement.

The municipality of Gračanica called on the temporary institutions in Pristina to stop the incendiary election rhetoric and show through their work that they stand for a democratic multi-ethnic society that strives for European norms, in which the lives of all citizens are first of all respected, regardless of national and religious orientation.

"We will never allow ourselves to succumb to provocations and drown in a nationalist street demonstration of force, because only the calmness of our citizens prevented an escalation of violence last night despite the attempts of an organized group of Albanians to provoke violence on the streets of Gračanica and destroy the multi-ethnicity and tolerance that we have been building for decades in the municipality of Gračanica", the statement added.

During the entire day yesterday, the column of cars decorated with the signs of the so-called KLA and Albanian flags roamed the streets of the municipality of Gračanica, and during the evening hours it culminated when a column of cars blocked the center of Gračanica around the monastery, provoking passers-by with gunfire, car sirens, shouts of "KLA" and blocking traffic. Several of them wearing hoods got out of the car and tried to remove the flag of the Republic of Serbia from the monument of Miloš Obilić.