Kosovo: Watchdog attacks Serb property sales
Pristina, 4 Sept. (AKI) – The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe on Friday expressed concern about the sale of illegal property owned by minority Serb residents who have fled Kosovo since 1999. The OSCE watchdog's mission in Kosovo in its latest report documented at least 40 alleged cases of illegal sales of Serb property, using falsified documents. OSCE called on the European Union mission in Kosovo (EULEX) and local courts to do more to stop the practice and protect the rights of displaced people there. About 200,000 Serbs have fled Kosovo since it was put under United Nations control in 1999, leaving their homes, apartments and other property, which have often been expropriated by majority Kosovar Albanians. Criminals and speculators have illegally sold the properties, using falsified documents issued by Kosovo courts, as well as ones issued in neighbouring Serbia and Montenegro, OCSE said. These frauds and subsequent court proceedings to annul the illegal sales seriously violate the rights of displaced persons whose property has been left in Kosovo, it said.
