Hundreds of Serbs in northern Kosovo protested in the town of Mitrovica on Monday to oppose the ban on the Serbian dinar from 1 February.
Serbs from different regions of Kosovo and representatives of the Serbian List, the largest Serbian party in the country, demanded that the decree banning the use of the Serbian dinar be cancelled and that authorities in Pristina continue to pay salaries, pensions and social assistance in that currency.
Demonstrators carried banners saying:
“We will not even be able to find food without social assistance. Europe, open your eyes! I have earned my pension throughout my life.”
Kosovo authorities adopted the euro for cash payments on 1 February, despite concerns from ethnic Serbs living in the north. The country’s central bank announced the decision on 18 January, stating that currencies other than the euro could only be used in Kosovo for physical storage or in bank accounts.
Kosovo’s decision sparked outrage because until now ethnic Serbs in Kosovo have used the dinar, the official currency of neighbouring Serbia, in both government and commercial establishments.
Western countries, including the United States, France, Italy, Germany and Britain, have called on Kosovo to suspend the introduction of currency regulations.
Kosovo, which wants to join the European Union, unilaterally adopted the euro as its currency in 2002, but part of the population also uses the dinar.
The northern region of Kosovo, where half of the 100,000 Serb minority lives, has seen frequent outbreaks of ethnic violence, the latest flare-up coming in September 2023 when gunmen battled Kosovo police in the northern village of Banjska.
