Some Serbian media outlets have presented the demolition of 11 buildings in the Ujman Lake area, in the Zubin Potok municipality, as an action by Kosovo institutions directed against the Serbian community. In their reports, the action has been described with phrases such as “the expulsion of Serbs”, “the demolition of Serb property” and “Kurti’s terror”.
Claims of Serbian media and officials
According to reports, the public enterprise "Ibër-Lepenc" had begun the demolition of about ten buildings in the village of Çeçevë, on the shores of Lake Ujman, in the territory of the municipality of Zubin Potok.
Some Serbian media outlets have presented the demolition of 11 buildings in the Ujman Lake area, in the Zubin Potok municipality, as an action by Kosovo institutions directed against the Serbian community. In their reports, the action has been described with phrases such as “the expulsion of Serbs”, “the demolition of Serb property” and “Kurti’s terror”.
Serbian media outlet Novosti published a headline claiming that “with heavy machinery and long guns the Serbs are being expelled", while the action was described as an action by "Kurti's servants". Politika presented the case with the title "Kurti has started demolishing Serb property with excavators”, while Sputnik Serbia reported on “demolition of Serb-owned cottages", emphasizing the assistance of the Kosovo Police.
Similar narratives were also reinforced through statements by Serbian political representatives. Igor Simić, from the Serbian List, requested the reaction of the international community, while the Chairwoman of the Parliamentary Committee for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia, Danijela Nikolić, and the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Jovan Janjić, assessed that Serbs in Kosovo are exposed to constant pressure and legal violence, and that the demolition proves Albin Kurti's control of Kosovo's institutions.
Political statements by officials in Serbia. Office for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia has described the demolition as an "act of lawlessness and terror" and as an action taken in "revenge against Serbs."
These claims also made headlines in newspapers.News”And“Politics" on Wednesday (July 22).
In this way, the action to demolish the buildings is presented as part of a broader policy of Kosovo institutions to remove Serbs from the north of the country.
What is known about the demolition of buildings in Ujman?
On July 21, 2026, Kosovo institutions began the demolition of 11 buildings on the shores of Lake Ujman, in the municipality of Zubin Potok. The action was carried out by the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure, with the assistance of the Kosovo Police. According to the Police, the action took place without incident.
According to the public hydro-economic enterprise "Ibër-Lepenci", The facilities were built without permission on land administered by this company. Its director, Faruk Mujka, stated that the owners were asked on July 3 to vacate the buildings and that, after the deadline expired, the Inspectorate began implementing the decision to demolish them. According to him, most of the buildings were built during 2019–2020.
However, the case is not without controversy. The owners of the buildings, mainly Serbs from northern Kosovo, claim that they have documentation for the use of the land and that the property issue is still in court. They have requested a stay of the demolition and have appealed to the Ombudsman and the Basic Court in Mitrovica. The owners' lawyer claims that there is no legal basis for the demolition before the completion of the court proceedings.
However, the case is not without controversy. The owners of the buildings, mainly Serbs from northern Kosovo, claim that they have documentation for the use of the land and that the property issue is still in court. They have requested a stay of the demolition and have appealed to the Ombudsman and the Basic Court in Mitrovica. The owners' lawyer claims that there is no legal basis for the demolition before the completion of the court proceedings.
For, available facts indicate that there is a legal and property dispute between the institutions and the owners of the buildings.
A narrative that links the case to “ethnic cleansing”
Overall, the reporting by some Serbian media outlets follows a familiar narrative pattern: a local institutional action is presented as part of a broader policy of “expelling Serbs” from Kosovo. Through headlines such as “they are expelling Serbs”, “Kurti with excavators has started demolishing Serb property” and formulations describing the action as “terror” or “revenge”, the specific case is placed within the framework of the broader narrative that Kosovo institutions are pursuing a systematic policy of ethnic cleansing against the Serbian community.
This narrative is reinforced by political statements by officials in Serbia. The Office for Kosovo in the Serbian Government has described the demolition as an “act of lawlessness and terror” and as an action taken in “revenge against Serbs.” Such language presents the case not as a concrete administrative and property issue, but as part of a deliberate repressive policy against an ethnic community.
In this sense, the narratives published by the Serbian media can be described as the ethnicization of a legal and property issue. They do not necessarily deny the fact that the buildings are being demolished, but interpret the event through a framework that presents it as an “attack on Serbs”. This way of reporting can contribute to creating the perception that every action of Kosovo institutions in Serb-majority areas is automatically ethnically motivated, leaving the verification of concrete facts, the legal status of the property and institutional procedures in the background.
Finally, the claim that the action was directed against Serbs is not supported solely by the fact that the owners of the buildings are Serbs. In the absence of such evidence, the presentation of the case as an operation to “expelled Serbs” constitutes a narrative framing and a political interpretation of an action that is related, according to the cited sources, to issues of ownership and illegal construction.