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Djuric: Pristina would like to push Serbia into conflict with the international community, but that is a bad estimate - Kosovo Online 9–11 minutes _____ The Ambassador of Serbia to the US, Marko Djuric, said today that Pristina's goal was to try to push the international community, which had supported it so far, into a conflict with Serbia by arresting, intimidating, and appointing mayors without legitimacy in Serbian municipalities in the north of Kosovo was a bad estimate. "That's a bad estimate. Today, Serbia is a country that has made economic progress, is clearly committed to European integration, and definitely does not want escalation," Djuric pointed out in the online conversation "Kosovo and Serbia - urgent discussion on the last round of escalation", which was organized by the American non-governmental organization "Henry Jackson", in which the Kosovo ambassador to the US Ilir Dugolli also participated. Djuric also reminded of the fact that the High EU Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, was calling on the authorities in Pristina to stop unilateral actions of arrests and detentions without legal basis, which, he said, was a clear sign that something was wrong. He also pointed out that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had clearly condemned the authorities in Pristina for taking unilateral actions. "He condemned the fact that Pristina uses violence to install so-called mayors who were elected in elections in which less than 1 percent of the electorate participated. We saw what is happening now in Kosovo in the early 1990s. What is happening to the Serbs now in Kosovo, it happened to the Albanians three decades ago," Djuric emphasized. He also said that the international community should lead a policy of zero tolerance towards violence in the north of Kosovo. He stated that today, in order to calm the situation in the north of Kosovo, it was necessary to withdraw the special units of the Kosovo Police, whose presence in the north was a violation of Article 9 of the Brussels Agreement, as well as to hold new elections in four municipalities, and to release all political prisoners. "We believe that in order to calm the situation, it is necessary to withdraw the special units of the Kosovo Police, whose presence in the north is a violation of Article 9, for KFOR and EULEX to take over the responsibility for security, and to ensure the holding of fair and free elections, in which citizens should be able to vote freely. It is necessary to release all political prisoners. The political rhetoric of Pristina must also calm down," Djuric explained. He reminded that Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti characterized all people in the north as fascist militants, half of whom should be arrested, while half should leave Kosovo. "The US envoy for the Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, clearly said that, according to KFOR data, 97 percent of the protest participants had not used force. The international community should adopt a zero-tolerance policy towards violence on the ground. This is the only way we can restore stability to the streets of the north," Djuric underlined. He said that there had been no implementation of the Brussels Agreement for ten years. "For some time we were going in the right direction. We had institutions on the ground that were more inclusive, the Serbs in the municipal authorities, in the judiciary, in the police. Suddenly, a year and a half ago, which coincides with the tragic aggression of Russia against Ukraine, Pristina started with unilateral measures on the ground, changing the situation, outside of the dialogue, in their favor," Djuric explained. He recalled that the authorities in Pristina had publicly rejected parts of the Brussels Agreement, primarily the CSM. At the same time, he pointed out that Kurti was consistent in this because he had rejected it even before coming to power, and when he had taken over the government, he said that dialogue would not be a priority. "Unfortunately, the authorities in Pristina caused a dangerous escalation in the north of Kosovo by sending Special Police units, which violated Article 9 of the Brussels Agreement. Those units are composed of former KLA members, and they are also mono-ethnic, and they create an environment that creates further problems on the ground. Now we have come to a situation that is intolerable for the Serbs," he said. Djuric said that Pristina had even banned the crossing of Serbian goods, thereby stopping the supply of food and medical equipment to people. The Ambassador of Kosovo to the US, Ilir Dugolli, accused Serbia of undermining stability and questioning the existence of the Republic of Kosovo. "We have witnessed in the past weeks Serbia's strategy to use violence to cause instability and tensions. It started with license plates, which should have been implemented a long time ago, and culminated with the implementation of the results of the local elections," he said. He accused Serbia of violating international law and documents that it had accepted and signed from the Kumanovo, Brussels, and Ohrid agreements. "What we see in the north of Kosovo are Serbia's hybrid operations aimed at increasing tensions, in order to encourage citizens to rebel against the state of Kosovo. Citizens are being used as shields by militant groups under the control of Belgrade. This has nothing to do with normal relations. Instead of moving towards the normalization of relations, Serbia continues to normalize the use of violence, and threats against those who do not follow the same line as the ruling party and the regime in Belgrade," Dugolli assesses. Belgrade is interested in continuing the dialogue, but, gentlemen, fulfill your obligations first Djuric pointed out that Belgrade was interested in continuing the dialogue: "But, gentlemen, first fulfill your international obligations, release the detainees, and stop unilateral moves on the ground. Things don't work that way". Regarding Serbia's position on Kosovo's statehood, he said that it was not on the table at all, nor coullld it be discussed in any way, especially while there were political prisoners in Kosovo, armed Special Forces in the north, and a government that is clearly opposed to the obligation to form the CSM, went against the advice of Antony Blinken, the EU advice on elections, and all others, because the entire international community asked Pristina to withdraw special units from the north. When it comes to the exit of the Serbs from Kosovo's institutions in the north, Djuric reminded that this had not happened during some previous one, but during the mandate of the current government and for a very specific reason, after the illegal arrest of the Serbs and the intensity of the illegal presence of special units, which created instability. "Instead of the Serbs receiving the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities, as a condition for their return to the institutions, they received armed former members of the KLA under their windows," the Serbian Ambassador stated. He illustrated the attitude of the Pristina authorities towards the Serbs with the example of the Visoki Decani Monastery, to which the government refused to return the land, despite the court's decision. "Pristina does not care about what their Constitutional Court has decided, regarding the monastery land, but they apply decisions according to the 'buffet table' principle - what they like, they apply, but not what they don't like," Djuric pointed out. Regarding the "presence of criminal groups in the north", he recalled that the director of the Kosovo Police had said that in the last three years, the police in the northern region had been very successful, while the Serbs had participated in the institutions, which, he said, said a lot. Confidence in the dialogue is restored by the implementation of the agreement, the CSM above all laws in Kosovo Djuric also said that Serbia was focused on returning to the "status quo", adding that sometimes one had to take a step back in order to take two steps forward. "The international community demands that Prishtina withdraw special units, mayors and hold elections. If we do that, we don't have to worry about what anyone will do," the Serbian Ambassador said. He also pointed out that the current state of democracy in the north of Kosovo was such that mayors were appointed with less than 10 votes from citizens. "We want a completely different image," Djuric said. He presented information that, according to the OSCE, there were more than 80,000 unresolved property issues, because the authorities in Pristina had not formed a joint Agency for checking and comparing real estate, but instead created a mono-ethnic agency that the Serbs were boycotting. "Cadastre books are not available to Pristina, because we do not know what they will do with them," Djuric warned. He underlined that it was necessary to restore trust in the dialogue, and this, he said, was achieved by implementing everything agreed upon in Ohrid. "If we are talking about the CSM; it is above all laws in Kosovo," Djuric stressed. He expressed his belief that significant things had been achieved through the dialogue so far, because there had been no war for many years, and perhaps more importantly, we had all learned how to manage disagreements over the issue of status. "I believe that in the future we will be able to create an environment in which all European freedoms will be applied, and I hope that we will go further than that, by creating a strong relationship between the Serbs and Albanians," Ambassador Djuric concluded. -- http:www.antic.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "SERBIAN NEWS NETWORK" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/senet/017f01d9a99a%2497240c00%24c56c2400%24%40gmail.com.
