Ahmed Ali Kosovo police have taken away many computers that are used to mine cryptocurrencies from people in a region with mostly Serbs. Leaders in Pristina and Belgrade are blaming each other for this situation, which could make the relationship among different ethnic groups living in Kosovo even worse.
Kosovo Police Raid Sparks Controversy
Police in Kosovo searched for cryptocurrency mining in a town with mostly Serb people. An Albanian leader from Pristina reported this to the news agency Anadolu.
Economy Minister Artane Rizvanolli said that the police had taken away 174 computers used for creating digital currencies due to failure to pay electricity bills. She shared this news about Zubin Potok on social media and warned people against doing these illegal activities.
People living in the north of Kosovo, who are mainly from Serbia, haven’t paid for their electricity for twenty years. This is because Serbia does not accept that Kosovo is an independent country, as most people living there are from Albania.
Belgrade is angry because the police in Kosovo conducted raids on Good Friday, a very special day for Orthodox Christians. They think this raid was done to make Serbs mad and create more tension in Kosovo. The Serbian government has said that this was just another example of the way they are being treated unfairly.
The Serbian government is trying to show that there is a situation in Kosovo (a country), where Serbs are being attacked. Blerim Vela, the chief of an important person in Kosovo called Vjosa Osmani, said that this is only something used by Serbia to hide criminal activities in northern Kosovo.
In Jan 2022, Kosovo made it illegal to use cryptocurrencies because of the worldwide energy problems and in August *(2020)*, they even took away hundreds of crypto machines. It was also reported that people in four Serbian cities didn’t pay their electricity and water bills and together they owe around €300 million (around $330 million).
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