Pristina again goes after Trepca mining complex - report

Pristina again goes after Trepca mining complex - report

With this move of Pristina institutions, the Trepca case is entering a new phase, the agency said, and recalled that last year these institutions passed a unilateral act and took over the mining complex, which Serbian authorities annulled several days later.

The reality, as far as the property of the Serbian state in Kosovo and Metohija is concerned, is conditioned by the military, political and economic presence of powerful countries that have recognized Kosovo's independence, economists Bozo Draskovic told Sputnik.

Interest groups from abroad are behind Kosovo's puppet government, he added.

"When it comes to the Trepca, it is about a natural resource and its exploitation with unforeseeable economic and environmental consequences in the interest of some foreign companies. And they are making the key moves. The power of the government of Serbia de facto is none. It comes down to public statements and nothing else. When it comes to economic processes, what powerful players and participants in the political and economic market do and want is what will be happening in Kosovo," said Draskovic.

From the beginning, Pristina authorities have understood the Brussels process as something that should bring the realization of an independent status on the whole territory of Kosovo and Metohija, says analyst Dusan Prorokovic. Without any compromise and regard for the views of Belgrade, they have been doing that for the last five years.

"Viewed in this context, this move is quite expected. It's hard to say at this point how it will manifest on further negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina. I suppose everything will be made relative on our side, it will be said that (Isa) Mustafa is doing it all because of the election campaign which is very fierce - but I think this is not true, and that Belgrade needs to think of protecting its interests and those of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija in a new way," said Prorokovic.

The Brussels dialogue has not contributed to that, continued Prorokovic, while Albanians are picking up where they left off in previous months. The handover of the feasibility study for Trepca, according to Prorokovic, concerns a strategic orientation to push out every influence of Serbia in Kosovo and to have Albanian institutions take over all competences.