Petkovic: The victory of the Serb List means the Serbian people have a future

The Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, once again congratulated the Serb List on its victory in the local elections in Kosovo, emphasizing that this victory means the Serbian people have a future, as the party is the guarantor of the Serbs’ survival in Kosovo.

“This is a magnificent victory that means the Serbian people have a future with the Serb List, which is the guarantor of their survival. The Serb List, together with the state of Serbia, President Aleksandar Vucic, the Government of Serbia, and the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, will continue to fight strongly for our people,” Petkovic told TV Pink.

He added that the significance of the Serb List’s victory is even greater because it marks the return of Serbs to their municipalities in northern Kosovo.

“They are re-establishing control over the four municipalities in northern Kosovo. We have finally seen the backs of Kurti’s gauleiters, who have been almost completely defeated,” Petkovic stressed.

He noted, for example, that Lulzim Hetemi in Leposavic received only 34 votes, practically a statistical error.

“Can you imagine that these people ruled without the will of the citizens, making anti-Serb decisions… There is nothing that Albin Kurti hasn’t done to the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija. A whole book could be written about Kurti’s terror against the Serb List and the Serbian people,” Petkovic said.

He emphasized that, unlike in the Albanian-majority municipalities where a second round will mostly be held, in the Serbian-majority municipalities, in nine out of ten, the Serb List won in the first round.

Only in Klokot will there be a second round, but even there, the Serb List’s candidate Bozidar Dejanovic won the most votes, around 900.

“We are heading into the second round there on November 9, and we expect another convincing victory,” Petkovic said.

He reminded that Pristina had done everything to prevent the Serb List from participating in the local elections, trying to ban the party, prohibit its campaign video, and remove its members from polling station committees.

In addition, Petkovic noted, Pristina tried to prevent Serbian media from reporting, exerted months of pressure on the Serb List leadership, launched fabricated court cases against them, and even unlawfully appointed Nenad Rasic as deputy speaker of the Kosovo parliament.

Petkovic stressed that the credit for the Serb List’s victory belongs primarily to the Serbs in Kosovo.

“This is the unity of the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija, together with central Serbia, with all our citizens, with President Vucic who fully stands with the Serbian people,” Petkovic said, adding that thanks to the President and the Serbian Government, new jobs have been secured in Kosovo.

“Our people know who they can trust. They know they have only their state and their president. That is why this victory is so convincing, it means that despite the terror, harassment, arrests, and yellow tape placed on our projects, a new era of freedom begins today. Serbs are returning to their institutions, their buildings, to build unity and a better future, for our tricolor flag to wave again,” Petkovic declared.

He added that the Serb List also achieved remarkable victories south of the Ibar River, in Strpce, Novo Brdo, Partes, and Ranilug.

“As for opponents from other Serb parties, they took part only to try to destroy that unity. But they ended up at the level of statistical error, because very few people voted for them, especially Nenad Rasic,” Petkovic noted.

As an example, he mentioned Gracanica, where the Serb List’s candidate Novak Zivic achieved a convincing victory with 7,115 votes (62%), while Rasic received 1,472 votes (12.84%).

At the same time, the Albanian candidate Lutrim Ajeti received 2,623 votes (22%), despite several thousand additional voters being registered in Gracanica, allegedly to alter the ethnic balance, Petkovic underlined.

When asked about the large number of Serbs imprisoned in Kosovo, Petkovic said they had been arrested simply for having Serbian names and surnames, for wearing the Serbian tricolor or T-shirts with national symbols, and that they were innocent. He added that the Office for Kosovo and Metohija is doing everything to help them and is using diplomatic channels with the EU and the Quint countries to secure their release.

He pointed out that, meanwhile, Azem Kurtaj, who shot two Serbian boys in Gotovusa on Christmas Eve, remains at large.

“Every act of terror eventually comes to an end, and so will Albin Kurti’s oppression. These elections mark his downfall,” Petkovic said.

He added that Kurti now faces the challenge of forming a government, but if he fails, and if the next candidate also fails, new elections will be held in Kosovo.