The Director of the Directorate for Cooperation with the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia, Arnaud Gouillon, said that he was aware of the seizing of Serb property in the Federation of BiH, Croatia and Kosovo and Metohija, and that it was unconceivable and unacceptable that some Serb towns in the FBiH had no water.

Gouillon noted that regarding Serb property in the FBiH, Croatia and Kosovo and Metohija, many things were not fair, and often not even legal.

– The position of Serbs in the region varies from country to country, even within a single country, for example in BiH. It is not the same to be a Serb in Banja Luka and somewhere in the FBiH – said Gouillon in Belgrade.

He reminded that previous month he had been in the area near Mostar, in Prebilovci, Bačevići, Serb villages in the FBiH, which had no water.

– It is very hot, and they have no water. That is unacceptable. The fact that there is no water in Prebilovci is unconceivable. We need to work to change that – said Gouillon and added that, in addition to this one, there were many similar examples in the region.

Gouillon said that before his being appointed director of the Directorate, he had thought that he could only encounter such examples /people having no water/ in Serbian towns in Kosovo and Metohija.

– Naturally, the situation in Kosovo and Metohija is much more complicated than in the countries of the region, but there are still similar occurrences also in the region, and even in the countries of the region that are members of the EU – said Gouillon.

He added that it was a shock for him when he visited Croatia for the first time a year and a half ago and saw that there were places where people had no electricity, and some had no water, regardless of being in the EU and in the 21st century.

Gouillon reminded that the Directorate for Cooperation with the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region, together with the institutions of the Republic of Srpska, had launched a campaign to protect the property rights of Serbs from the FBiH.

He stated that the Directorate, together with the Republic of Srpska, had opened several legal aid offices and already 5,000 cases had been formed.

– This means that for 5,000 families we have the possibility to defend their property – said Gouillon, stating that the campaign continued, and the goal was to keep what belonged to Serbs in their possession, which is a basic human right.

He noted that harmonization of land registers and cadasters was underway in BiH, making it possible for owners to lose the right to own property if they failed to apply, if they had not been informed about it.

– If someone has property in the FBiH and fails to apply, their property may be usurped and seized, which is why I urge Serbs to contact the legal aid offices, which were established by the Republic of Srpska, in order to be informed about everything that is happening – Gouillon said.

He pointed out that after two decades the usurper can become the owner of a Serb field they had used for 10 or 20 years, without the Serb registering it as his property or complaining about the unlawful use.

– Unfortunately, a lot of time has passed since the war and many who had to escape and now live around the world are not aware of it and have not been in the FBiH where they have property for a long time – Gouillon said.

Source: RTRS-SRNA

Photo: Directorate for Cooperation with the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region