Petkovic: Serb List the legitimate representative of the Serbian people, Rasic lost in Serb-majority areas

Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Petar Petkovic said today that the Serbian people in Kosovo, in the elections held on Sunday, December 28, demonstrated full responsibility, listened to the call of the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic and their state of Serbia, and turned out in large numbers to vote, adding that the Serb List won nearly 3,000 more votes than in the elections held in February. According to him, Nenad Rasic lost in Serb-majority areas and lacks legitimacy.

He said that despite all the problems, objective circumstances and the terror of Albin Kurti everywhere, the Serbian people showed full responsibility and went to the polls in large numbers. He stressed that, of all places in Kosovo, the highest turnout was recorded in areas with a majority Serbian population.

Petkovic emphasized that the victory of the Serb List primarily means the survival of Serbs in Kosovo.

“As I often repeat, the Serb List is the umbilical cord that connects our people in Kosovo and Metohija with the state of Serbia, with official Belgrade. The victory of the Serb List in Serb-majority areas is of enormous importance, because it is the only legitimate representative of the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija. If the Serb List won more than 90 percent of the vote in Serb-majority areas, it is clear that the Serbian people are absolutely behind the representatives of the Serb List. Consequently, that also means support for the representatives of Belgrade and the state of Serbia,” Petkovic told Tanjug, as reported by RTV.

He stressed that something is happening again that was also seen during the first elections in February, “when both Kurti and Rasic resorted to deception.”

“For the entire time, Kurti was seeking engineering solutions to insert Rasic into parliament, in order to try to form a government with him and continue an anti-Serb policy, primarily toward Serbs both south and north of the Ibar, as well as to continue attacks on President Vucic, official Belgrade and the state of Serbia,” he said.

He underlined that when the situation is examined, it is clear, at least in the areas where the Serb List could influence, where it campaigned and spoke with people, that there was an absolutely dominant victory of the Serb List and no problem whatsoever there.

As he says, the Serb List won 10 seats in Serb-majority areas, all 10 guaranteed seats in the Pristina parliament, but the problem arises at the moment when Albanians vote for Rasic, that is, when Albanians, acting on Kurti’s direct orders, vote for Rasic, who is not a representative of the Serbian people and who, he stressed, is there to implement Kurti’s policy and demands.

“I must immediately say that this is also illegal, because even under internal Pristina regulations, those 10 guaranteed seats are intended for representatives of the Serbian people. And what kind of representative of the Serbian people is Rasic if Albanians vote for him? We saw that he lost in Serb-majority areas, that he has no legitimacy and no support, but when you look at the CEC website and the results from other municipalities, you see that in Djakovica and Prizren alone, more than 350 votes went to Rasic. Where did they come from? Rasic received votes in Kacanik, Podujevo, Stimlje, Suva Reka, in Djeneral Jankovic more than 17 votes, in South Mitrovica more than 20 votes,” Petkovic said.

He stressed that all of this shows there was an agreement with Kurti for Kurti to allocate part of his votes in each municipality where there are no Serbs, because unfortunately in Kosovo and Metohija everything comes down to this kind of transactional relationship when it comes to elections.

According to him, there is no democracy, no true rule of law or genuine electoral process there. These are votes over which the Serb List and no Serb has any influence, as well as developments that occur beyond the power of the Serbian people in Kosovo.

“Politically speaking, I am very grateful and satisfied because the Serb List showed full dominance, more than 90.06 percent support for the Serb List in Serb-majority areas, all 10 seats going to the Serb List. As for what and how Rasic will work with Kurti, that is what we saw in February. We later saw throughout the entire post-election process how Kurti forcibly pushed Rasic into the position of vice president of the so-called Pristina parliament,” Petkovic said.

He pointed out that these are already well-developed scenarios of deception present in Kosovo, which Serbs must be aware of and therefore preserve unity and cohesion.

“What is also very important to say is that the Serb List won nearly 3,000 more votes compared to the February elections, which speaks to the full trust of the people. There were 1,000 more votes in Kosovska Mitrovica and Leposavic, and 500 more votes in Zvecan. This means that in all our areas the victory and strength of the Serb List are being confirmed, and that is what matters. That is what is legitimate and what shows who the true representatives of the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija are,” Petkovic concluded.

Expecting dialogue in January

The Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija said that 2025 was an extremely difficult year for Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija and emphasized that Belgrade will never abandon its people and will fight everywhere and at every step, financially and politically, through dialogue and through talks with everyone, pointing out the problems faced by Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija.

He said that he expects a new round of dialogue already in January, noting that Belgrade was ready for it even in December, which it confirmed to Brussels, but that the Pristina side, namely their chief negotiator Besnik Bislimi, rejected it under the pretext of being in an election campaign.

“They are constantly in a campaign, even though there have been three electoral processes. It is clear that all they do is campaign and that they do not want to negotiate at all. Dialogue does not interest them. We respond to every invitation, dialogue is important to us. We believe that a political solution to the crisis in Kosovo and Metohija can be found exclusively at the negotiating table, because without dialogue and talks, we have a crisis on the ground, and Serbs are the ones who suffer because of that,” Petkovic said.

According to him, Prime Minister of the provisional Pristina institutions Albin Kurti is trying to find a “solution” to the Kosovo and Metohija issue in this way, using the term ironically.

“I expect the continuation of dialogue. We are always ready to talk and to come forward with constructive solutions. For us, compromise is not a forbidden word, unlike in Pristina. We need to meet halfway and resolve issues that concern the everyday lives of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija. Dialogue is the place where we should resolve issues of normalization. The status issue is not part of the dialogue. It is defined by Resolution 1244, and it is our duty to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country,” Petkovic said.

He recalled that over the past four years, since Kurti came to power, we have witnessed daily terror and unilateral and escalatory moves by the regime in Pristina, which, he emphasized, uses all means to expel the Serbian people and remove the state of Serbia from Kosovo and Metohija.

“He shut down Serbian institutions, abolished the Serbian currency, cut salaries paid by the Republic of Serbia, closed institutions and arrested Serbs. We have more than 60 political prisoners in Pristina prisons. He did absolutely everything to militarize the area of northern Kosovo and Metohija. The Kosovo police abused Serbs at every step,” he said.

Additionally, the Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija added that there is also institutional violence carried out almost every day, discrimination and the most blatant abuse of the Pristina judiciary, which is in the service of Albin Kurti.

“Serbs are being arrested and convicted. You have the latest example of Sladjan Trajkovic, who was sentenced to ten years in prison in Kosovo without witnesses and without evidence. That is, in fact, Kurti’s justice in Kosovo,” Petkovic said.

Asked about the arming of Pristina, which is contrary to UN Security Council Resolution 1244, Petkovic said that the key issue now is the reaction of the international community.

“And when we talk about these escalatory moves by Albin Kurti, I remind you that two years ago the European Union issued a clear statement and demand for Pristina to de-escalate the situation in northern Kosovo and Metohija. That did not happen. Instead, we saw new escalatory moves. In total, there have been more than 710 attacks, incidents and ethnically motivated attacks against Serbs, the Serbian Orthodox Church, our cemeteries, and so on,” he said.

He stressed that when Serbian mayors returned to four municipalities in northern Kosovo and Metohija, they found appalling conditions.

“When we finally saw the back of Kurti’s gauleiters, the mayors from the Serb List saw that everything had been destroyed and devastated. They went so far as to literally gouge out the eyes of icons that were located in those municipal buildings. So, in addition to all this and all these incidents and attacks, which ultimately amount to violations of the basic human rights of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, about which we continuously inform Brussels and the international community, we see mild reactions, verbal condemnation and nothing more,” Petkovic emphasized.

According to him, violence is being carried out against the Serbian people, endangering an entire people in the heart of Europe in the 21st century, while the reaction of the international community remains mild.

Kurti persistently arms Pristina

“The situation is the same when it comes to armament. Look, this is what President Aleksandar Vucic has been saying all along. Kosovo is the West’s protege. And no matter what Kurti does, no matter how much they say he is stubborn and unwilling to listen, it is clear that they will never abandon the so-called independent Kosovo and that, if forced to choose between two sides, they will always choose Pristina and Kurti, while trying to attack Belgrade and Serbia, even though Serbia is doing absolutely everything to preserve peace, stability and fulfill all its obligations in the dialogue,” Petkovic said.

He added that the situation regarding armament is very alarming, because Kurti is persistently and continuously arming Pristina and the territory of Kosovo and Metohija. As an example, he cited Pristina’s intention to allocate more than one billion euros over the coming period.

“All of that is supposed to go into the budget of the so-called Kosovo Security Forces. You know that in 2018 they also adopted a law, again without respecting their own regulations, since the Serb List of course did not vote, to form the so-called Kosovo Army. But the biggest problem here is actually the mentors of Kosovo’s independence, those who directly support Pristina and sell it this weaponry. There are many of them, and they clearly want to use this armament to further exert influence in the Western Balkans,” Petkovic said.

He also mentioned the procurement of Turkish Sky Deger systems, more than a thousand lethal drones, armored anti-tank vehicles, as well as announcements of opening ammunition and drone factories in Kosovo and Metohija, and training conducted in Germany and the United Kingdom.

“When you add to all this the trilateral pact or military alliance between the so-called Kosovo, Albania and Croatia, it is clear that Kurti is continuously carrying out full militarization of Kosovo and Metohija with the obvious intention of posing a threat to Belgrade and the Serbian people. It is also clear that everything they are doing on the ground, their alliances and the fact that no one in NATO reacts when two NATO countries align themselves with a territory that is unrecognized, and when there is no reaction from NATO officials, all of this shows the direction in which things are developing here in the Balkans,” he said.

To all this, he added, one should also include the hybrid war and everything Kurti has been saying since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine – claims that Belgrade would attack Kosovo and Metohija, references to military bases along the administrative line – none of which has happened.

“The only one who has armed, the only one who has carried out violence, the only one who has brought and imported offensive weapons into Kosovo and Metohija is Albin Kurti. We have a strong army, and in September everyone could see at the military parade what our army really looks like and what it possesses, thanks to President Aleksandar Vucic. In that sense, there is no need to compare anything at all with the so-called army in Pristina. It is simply incomparable. Our army is a regional leader, and from that perspective there is nothing to link it with Pristina. Those comparisons are ridiculous. But the fact that Kurti constantly uses what he has as a security threat is certainly happening, and we must point that out. Especially bearing in mind that, as you yourself said, under Resolution 1244 and also under the Kumanovo Agreement, the only armed force or formation in Kosovo and Metohija is KFOR. KFOR and no one else. Yet KFOR does not react when Pristina arms itself,” Petkovic assessed.

He also questioned how the states that arm Pristina do not look at what is written in the United Nations Charter and other documents, especially regarding the ban on arming a part of territory that belongs to the Republic of Serbia.

“No one here cares about international law anymore, or about the UN Charter. Might makes right, as our people say, and here everyone is competing with everyone else, both in armament and in other matters. We are arming our army and strengthening our country’s military capacities. But the circumstances are completely different. Our philosophy or doctrine is completely different. We strengthen our army to preserve peace and stability and to deter potential enemies. Meanwhile, you have offensive weapons in Kosovo and Metohija that are clearly directed against the Serbian people and Belgrade,” he said.

Financial support for Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija

Asked whether Belgrade will continue to support the Serbian people in Kosovo, Petkovic said that it will, primarily in financial terms, recalling that over the past 30 years the largest packages of financial assistance, initiated by President Vucic, have been directed toward the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija.

“We have announced a new competition for 300 new jobs at the beginning of January, and after the Serbian New Year we will employ more than 700 medical and non-medical staff. We support our education system, universities and all other institutions. All salaries, pensions and social benefits are paid on time. And what I especially want to emphasize is that since February we have implemented a very important measure, namely that every Serb living in Kosovo and Metohija who does not receive income from Pristina or from the Serbian system receives 20,000 dinars per month into their account. This shows our genuine attitude toward our people in Kosovo and Metohija, to support them financially and motivate them to survive and remain, and to let them know that the state of Serbia stands by them,” the director of the Office said.

According to him, since Serbia has not had an army in Kosovo since 1999, security risks and the survival of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija are under question, Serbs are endangered, and in that sense, through diplomacy and dialogue, Belgrade is trying to do everything it can to help its people.

“It provides financial assistance and everything we can through infrastructure projects, agriculture, the economy, small businesses and family enterprises. We will certainly continue all of this in the coming period, because the survival of Serbs is important to us. This is not a matter of daily politics or some abstract agenda, but our mission and our responsibility toward our people living in Kosovo and Metohija, who deserve a life worthy of human dignity, just like citizens throughout central Serbia,” Petkovic said.

Asked what message he would send to the Serbian people in Kosovo and what he wishes for them in 2026, he said above all good health, peace and unity, and that they enter the New Year strengthened and empowered.

“As our President Aleksandar Vucic says, there are no easy times in Kosovo and Metohija. Times are always difficult, extremely difficult. Our people have somehow learned to live with that. But dawn will come in Kosovo and Metohija as well. I expect better days for the Serbian people there. We will see what more we can do, including increasing the budget and subsidies, which are important for our people in Kosovo and Metohija,” Petkovic said.

He added that in 2025 the budget for the Office for Kosovo and Metohija was historic, and that he expects it to be even larger in the coming year.

He also said it is important not to fall for Kurti’s provocations, which will continue in the period ahead, and stressed that there is full trust in President Vucic and the institutions of the Republic of Serbia.

“That unity led by the Serb List is what will preserve us, especially the return of our Serbian institutions to the north of Kosovo and Metohija and the confirmation of the Serb List’s victory in six municipalities south of the Ibar. These are the things that will give us strength to endure difficult times together with our Church, clergy, monastic community, our people and our institutions as pillars of the survival of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, and to welcome a better tomorrow for our people and our children who are born in Kosovo and Metohija. I can even say that the birth rate in Serb-majority areas in Kosovo and Metohija is much higher than in central Serbia. Because of all this,” he concluded, “special care is given to social policy and assistance to every mother and every woman who has given birth, as well as special support for every child who lives, studies and grows up in Kosovo and Metohija.”