RSD 5.7M to be allocated to repair damage to Albanian shops

NOVI SAD - The government of Vojvodina pledged to transfer RSD 5.7 million to help repair the damage to 15 facilities in the northern Serbian province which were vandalized after the incident at the Serbia-Albania football match.

The funds will be allocated from the current budget reserve, the government of Vojvodina released on its website on Monday.

According to the release, the funds will be used to repair the vandalized bakeries and cake shops owned by ethnic Albanians in Novi Sad, Sombor, Vrsac and Stara Pazova, and to the Muhajir Mosque in Subotica.

The match between Serbia and Albania in Belgrade on October 14 was abandoned after a brawl that followed the appearance of a drone with a map depicting the so called Greater Albania, a nationalist project that would include parts of Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Greece.

Albanians in the region celebrated the incident as a national victory, and a series of provocations ensued in the southern part of Serbia populated by the Albanian minority, as well as attacks on Serbs and their property in Kosovo-Metohija (KiM).

This was followed by the stoning of bakeries and cake shops in Vojvodina, owned by ethnic Albanians but also by one Gorani and a Serb, and damage was caused to the door of the auxiliary facility of the Muhajir Mosque in Subotica.

While no attacker on the Serbs and their property has been found in KiM, all the perpetrators in Vojvodina, mostly minors, were quickly identified and, as announced, are soon to face criminal charges for inciting hatred and enmity between ethnic groups.

Photo Tanjug, J. Pap (illustration)