Renewed cutting-off of electricity supplies to enclaves inhabited by Serbians in Kosovo and the way to find sustainable solutions for their survival in an independent state they do not like

1.4.2009

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2667/09
by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL)
to the Commission

1. Does the Commission remember my Written Question E‑0727/05 concerning ‘the unnecessary cutting-off of electricity supplies and drinking water to enclaves inhabited by Serbians in Kosovo, and the way to restore their connections’, after the 800 (Serbian) residents of the villages of Priluže, Lipanj and Batuse in Kosovo did not get any electricity supply from ‘Korporata Energjetike e Kosoves’ (KEK) since mid‑December 2004, and its answer dated 13 April 2005?

2. Is the Commission aware that — also after Kosovo received its recognition as an independent state from most EU Member States in 2008 — such power cuts have again taken place, which are not favourable for its intention to create sustainable peaceful coexistence between the Albanian majority in the country and its Serbian minority that, in the part of Kosovo South of the Ibar river, mainly lives in small enclaves?

3. Is the number of households in Kosovo currently without electricity supply higher or lower than on 31 January 2005, when the Commission estimated this number at 10710? How many of them were never provided with electricity? Are national minorities relatively more highly represented in connection with such shortcomings than the majority?

4. Is the Commission aware that the small village of Silovo has had no electricity supply since the beginning of March 2009? Does it see any possibilities to restore their electricity supply immediately? How?

5. How is the Commission contributing to finding a solution for the complicated relationship between the Serbian households and the KEK electricity company, which they consider to be an instrument of a state they do not recognise as their own, as they still see Kosovo as an autonomous province inside the Serbian state of which they prefer to be citizens?

6. Does the Commission see any possibility of providing Serbian enclaves inside Kosovo with a direct link to electricity produced inside Serbia, so that customers are obliged to pay for their energy directly to that Serbian provider, without the danger of disturbing public services in the Republic of Kosovo?

7. If the Commission cannot find solutions for the issues described in questions 4, 5 and 6, what perspectives does it see for the future survival of those Serbian enclaves inside Kosovo?

OJ C 189, 13/07/2010