Rakic: Albin Kurti's intention to go into the final showdown with the Serbs is obvious

There was no doubt that all these actions were part of a deliberate plan by Albin Kurti and his mentors to expel the Serbs from their hearths. Unfortunately, on the soil of Europe, in front of the eyes of all international missions, Pristina was allowed to solve open political issues with violence, rifles, and mistreatment of the Serbs, the president of the Serb List, Goran Rakic, said in an interview for Kurir.

As Rakic emphasizes, "Serbs have never been more determined to stay and survive, we are on our ground. This nation has been through worse situations, but it has never surrendered, and it won't now either.”

What do "common" people tell you? Are they scared for safety?

The people are worried but determined not to buckle under the pressure. Who wouldn't be worried when there are armed men walking around the children's heads in the kindergarten, the same ones who countless times caused incidents, beat people up, and the other day started stealing the hard-earned wine of the Petrovic family. People ask us, the political representatives, for peace, and we insist on that, but we, together with President Vucic are unfortunately alone in calling for peace to be preserved. Pristina responds to calls for peace with combat vehicles and boots that trample Serbian bread and grapes from Velika Hoca, whose streets these days are mixed with tears and wine as a symbol of the crucifixion that we as a nation are experiencing these days.

Kurti sent additional forces to the north, hundreds of armed men, how to respond?

The attempted occupation and landing on Kosovska Mitrovica started just a few hours after they intimidated children in Leposavic and seized wine and plum brandy in Velika Hoca. As a rule, after one violence to which no one from the international community reacts, comes another, third... Thanks to the composure of our people, there was no major escalation on the ground, but I really don't know how long we will be able to endure this. The oppression of the Serbs, compliance with the Brussels Agreement, and violation of public international law have been going on for too long.

Dejan Pantic was arrested yesterday. How do you comment?

Albin Kurti's intention to start a final showdown with the Serbs is obvious, and with arrests, false accusations, and retaliation, he is trying to take revenge on our people, who do not want to obey him. The people responded calmly, by spontaneously gathering, because, as we have repeatedly warned, they cannot tolerate Kurti's terror.

What are the reactions among the Serbs in the north of Kosovo to the appointment of Nenad Rasic as a minister in the Kosovo Government? Are you expecting an invitation from Racic for a possible meeting?

The Serb List was part of the Institutions thanks to the support of our people and our country. We were elected as representatives by the Serbs. Nenad Rasic and Rada Trajkovic were chosen by Kurti. This reflects the difference, we were and always will be representatives of the Serbs, and they are representatives of Kurti. That is why it is not surprising that neither Rasic nor Trajkovic said a word to the tears of Petrovic's mother and their desperate appeals for help. So much for them and their concern for the Serbs. We have nothing to talk about with such people, they are not chosen by the people, they are pawns in Kurti's game of democracy.

President Aleksandar Vucic said that the "situation in Kosovo is boiling", and that the Serbs south of the Ibar are also close to the decision to leave the institutions... Could that happen soon?

President Vucic knows the situation on the ground very well and this is the best-defined situation in which we find ourselves. When a Serb shuts up, you should be worried, and the Serbs have started to be silent. Of course, the situation of our compatriots, brothers, and sisters in the south is different compared to the north, but I understand their views. They were integrated much earlier, and what did they get; arrests of prominent people, indictments without evidence, harassment, and institutional violence.

Do you believe that soon it would be possible to start establishing the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities? Is this a prerequisite for the Serb List to return to the institutions?

At the joint meeting of all representatives of the institutions from the north, we clearly said that we demanded that the Brussels Agreement be respected and the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities be formed. This is not a whim of the Serbs, but an international obligation that Pristina did not fulfill, and which those who were the guarantors of that agreement forgot about. Our people are politically literate and wise, and they will not fall for nice stories. We are looking for actions, the formation of the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities as an institution for the protection of the rights of the Serbs, exactly as agreed in Brussels, and we cannot and will not give up on that, because that would mean giving up on the survival of the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija.