Kosovo coal town faces cancer fears and pollution probe

Residents of Obilic, Kosovo's coal-power centre, say cancer and chronic illness are common as authorities investigate suspected environmental crimes at state-run power plants.

The town, near Pristina, produces almost all of Kosovo's electricity by burning lignite from nearby pits. Kosovo's parliament has declared Obilic an "environmentally endangered zone" because of persistent pollution.

Locals described repeated illness and bereavement. Jovan Zivic, whose cafe is on the road to one of the plants, said he lost his teenage son to cancer in 2010 and his wife 14 years later. Retired mechanic Brahim Gashi said his brother died of throat cancer and described black specks appearing quickly on laundry hung outside.

Cancer data is patchy, making it unclear whether residents develop the disease at a higher rate than elsewhere in Kosovo. But official monitoring in 2025 recorded an annual average concentration of fine particles in Obilic's air more than twice the level recommended by the World Health Organization. Coarser particles exceeded Kosovo's daily legal limit on 16 days.

Safet Haziri, a former Kosovo Energy Corporation worker, said he spent decades supervising a coal conveyor belt and later lost part of his bowel to cancer. Union vice-president Nexhat Llumnica, citing employer data from 2021, said 35 of 3,300 workers died that year and that most deaths were cancer-related. KEK did not respond to a request for comment.

Kosovo's National Institute of Public Health said in April that urgent measures were needed to reduce pollution from thermal power plants, warning of more cardiovascular and respiratory deaths without action. Chief State Prosecutor Zejnulla Gashi later announced an investigation into state-run power plants over suspected criminal contamination, degradation and destruction of the environment.