The police block the Post of Serbia in the north of Kosovo

The Kosovo Police confirmed on Monday that a police action is underway in the north of the country, namely in the facilities of the Post of Serbia.

An employee of the Post Office in Zveçan told Radio Free Europe that the police officers have blocked the entrance to the building and they can no longer enter there. According to him, during the action, police officials checked documents.

The deputy director of the Kosovo Police for the northern region, Veton Elshani, said that the action started after the information received by the Regulatory Authority of Electronic and Postal Communications (ARKEP) that economic operators are operating in the territory of Kosovo without a license and who are not registered in the Agency for the Registration of Businesses in Kosovo (ARBK).

"The information turned out to be correct, in which case the Police notified the State Prosecutor and we continue according to his authorizations", it was said, among other things, in the answer.

The chairman of ARKEP, Nazim Rahimi, has confirmed for REL that the institution he leads has informed "the relevant institutions of Kosovo that the Post of Serbia is operating illegally in the territory of Kosovo".

However, he did not indicate the number of offices of the Post of Serbia operating in Kosovo.

"We only cover the domain of postal services, the provision of mail, letter and parcel services," he said.

The Regulatory Authority for Electronic and Postal Communications (ARKEP) is a regulatory body in the field of electronic communications and the postal service, which oversees the regulatory framework defined by the law on electronic communications, the law on the postal service and development policies.

The Post of Serbia in Kosovo makes various payments to Serbs in Kosovo, from the funds allocated by the Serbian Government for them, including: salaries, child allowances and pensions.

Also, through the Post of Serbia, various payments are made in Kosovo for the services that citizens receive from parallel institutions, which operate according to the Serbian system, for example, payments for issuing Serbian documents, payments for exams, money transfers, etc. .

In addition to the municipalities in the north of Kosovo, inhabited by a majority of Serbs - North Mitrovica, Zveçan, Leposaviq and Zubin Potok - the Post also operates in areas inhabited by Serbs, south of Ibri.

The work of the Post Office has been made difficult since the beginning of this year, due to a decision of the Central Bank of Kosovo (CBK), which has made the euro the only currency for cash payments.

Thus, the use of the Serbian dinar has been banned.

Serbia claims to distribute aid worth millions of euros to Serbian residents in Kosovo.

The international mechanism criticized the Kosovo authorities for taking this decision, saying that they did not offer enough alternatives for the local Serbs.