Milovic: We will survive in Kosovo and Metohija with our country Serbia

Dragiša Milovic, Vice President of the Serb List and an orthopedic specialist at the Clinical Hospital Center in Kosovska Mitrovica, stated in an interview with "Politika" that Serbia will not abandon any of the 1,100 workers who were expelled from their jobs south of the Ibar River by Kurti's police, nor the thousands who indirectly lost their incomes after the seizure of institutions in the system of the Republic of Serbia.

He mentioned that salaries would continue to be paid to the workers and that efforts will be made with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and the Office for Kosovo and Metohija to ensure these workers can continue their duties, albeit under difficult conditions and circumstances.

"This is certainly one of the hardest hits on the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, and Kurti will continue the repression until the elections. He cannot be trusted," Milovic added.

He also emphasized that they are expecting a call from President Vucic, who has announced meetings with representatives of the Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija. Milovic stressed that only by voting for the Serb List, which has support in Belgrade, can the Serbs in the province survive and stay. He expressed distrust in the international community and concern that Kurti is adopting a "Croatian model." However, Milovic anticipates that changes in global politics and attitudes towards Kosovo and Metohija might bring about a different scenario.

How do you assess these days after the action of the Kosovo police, when there are no longer any institutions of the Serbian state, except for education and healthcare?

The day after shows how difficult the situation is for the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija, that this time is the hardest since 1999. The repression of Kurti's regime has already lasted four years. It manifests itself in both physical violence and the arrest of our prominent citizens, as well as in indictments for war crimes, institutional, and political violence... All of this that Serbs living in Kosovo and Metohija have gone through over these years, no other people in Europe have experienced.

The temporary Pristina institutions have sealed the post offices, which were supposed to be on the table in Brussels. Is there a concern that the same might happen with healthcare and education?

Nothing can surprise us when it comes to Kurti. Anything is possible. He respects nothing he has signed. He is not interested in and does not respect any agreement or deal signed in Brussels in 2013. We have expressed in discussions with representatives of the Quint countries and the American ambassador our concerns about what he might do next, and we do not know what might come to his mind next. However, I must say about what he did south of the Ibar, that official Belgrade will find a way for these people to provide services not only to our citizens but also to Bosniaks, Roma, and even Albanians. However, we are particularly concerned by the lack of reaction from the international community, as their mild condemnations seem to bolster him. He is running a campaign. Although he has nothing to offer his voters, people are leaving him, doctors and nurses because of low pay, nepotism prevails, there is an energy crisis, yet he boasts that he has supposedly brought the north under his control. This only speaks to the immense hatred towards Serbs and everything Serbian.

Why does the international community behave this way, what's the issue?

We have spoken about this with  Lajcak and Palmer, who have visited. They acknowledged that they indeed have a problem with this man, but noted that he was democratically elected. We are concerned about the EU, concerned about Brussels, which guarantees the agreements but does not react. The Community of Serb Municipalities was agreed upon and is nowhere in sight, even though we entered the elections in 2013 because of this agreement. The EU, the guarantor of implementation, remains silent. This worries us. The Brussels Agreement was signed, even ratified by the Kosovo assembly, but the EU does not react. This duplicity concerns us. You know, there's no return of 220,000 displaced persons, and nobody mentions Resolution 1244, which states that all should return. Albanians have returned, but when it comes to Serbs, there's silence. The message sent is that we are not welcome on our hearths; returnees are arrested, their homes and yards burned, crops destroyed... Arrests have been made in Istok, where the highest number of Serbian returnees is recorded.

From the very suggestion of holding elections, but even up to today, Kurti has been sabotaging the Serb List. Is there a risk that he might come up with more things that would harm your party?

Certainly, there is. He does not attack any other Serbian political party; his attack is solely on the Serb List. There will surely be more obstructions. This is the dirtiest campaign waged against us, but it will not discourage us. We have on our list successful people, doctors, intellectuals, former judges, deans, people who live here with their families. We will continue to talk to our citizens and I believe they will recognize this. We must continue the fight for our survival and existence in this region, united and with the help of Belgrade, the only support we have. The current minister from the Serbian ranks under Kurti did not speak out when land was being seized in Zubin Potok and Leposavic, he was silent when the genocide museum was being built, when military-police bases were constructed, he was merely a decoration there. A decoration to the detriment of Serbs. But, we continue the campaign we started in Ranilug and Gracanica, we will go from house to house, because we cannot stop.

The Serb List expects to win ten seats. Will you possibly enter into a coalition with other Serbian political entities that pass the threshold?

We aim to win all ten seats. We are not considering coalitions. But, we expect Serbs to vote and exercise their democratic right as they wish. The Serb List faces a difficult situation, but we appeal to the citizens to know that only the Serb List can respond to the situation and the challenges that come.

If Kurti does not win, do you think his successor will continue his policy, or will it be better?

Albanians do not hide what their goal is. Albin Kurti advocates for the unification of Kosovo with Albania. At his campaign rallies, the flag of "Greater Albania" is flown. But whoever comes next will have the goal of having as few Serbs as possible in Kosovo, to continue the ethnic cleansing that has started, to reduce the number of Serbs to a point where an Community of Serb-majority Municipalities (CSM) is not needed because there will be no Serbs who are a "disruptive" factor. Kurti, and I believe anyone after him, will strive to reduce the number of Serbs according to the "Croatian model," to reduce us to numbers that are easy to count. When "Greater Albania" is mentioned, everyone is silent, but the entire international community and everyone rise up when the Serbian world, Serbia, or the Republic of Srpska are mentioned. They are all allergic to this.

The north is under total occupation, especially after the explosion on the Ibar-Lepenac canal. Do you trust KFOR?

Most Serbs trust KFOR, in their impartiality which is their task. Kurti wanted to use the explosion in Varage to bring the KSF to the north, but KFOR recognized the situation and refused it. Imagine how Kurti planned this because just minutes after the explosion he accused the Serbs, the Serb List, official Belgrade. This was his argument to install about two thousand police officers with long guns in the north. He could not bring the Kosovo Security Forces, but instead, he brought his entire police clique here. In the south, you cannot see a policeman. It is incredible that despite the total siege of the north with drones, special police units, and agents in civilian clothes all around us, despite the north being in a "steel ring" and visible as on the palm of a hand, he accuses the Serbs and implicates Belgrade. And all this he calls a "terrorist act".

Recently, a Serb from the municipality of Leposavic was beaten nearly to death. Everyone is afraid. Only those who must, move at night. What can Serbs hope for, how should they behave?

No power lasts forever. Instead of Serbs feeling safe despite the large number of police officers, they carry out terror. They beat our citizens. They stop and search ambulances carrying operated patients, whom they throw out. This just shows that Serbs can be beaten, that pressure can be applied to them. Everyone remembers when Serbs were shot at on Christmas Eve. But we must be patient. It is hard, but we must persevere. We are on our own, living on our land, this force will pass. We expect some global winds to change something. We just want to live like all normal people—to have children freely study, to be treated in their hospitals, for us not to be banned from delivering textbooks, newspapers, for us not to be left without medicines, sanitary materials... We do not want Kurti and mayors with a hundred votes in places where there are at least 95 percent Serbian inhabitants to regulate our lives. To have Kurti tell us what is good in Kosovska Mitrovica, Zvecan, Leposavic, and Zubin Potok. For Europe to tell us that is good. We just want to live like all normal people in the 21st century.

Local elections are to be held in November this year. Do you expect the situation to return to what it was two or three years ago and for Serbs to be in the positions of mayors, and for police from the Serbian community to return to the north?

Much will depend on these elections. What we are currently enduring is not life. We are expecting some better news from the new American administration. We met with Mr. Grenell in 2023 in Kosovska Mitrovica, where we briefed him on the severity of the situation. He is the fourth man in the American administration, so we hope that we, the Serbs of Kosovo and Metohija, will find ourselves on some American list to alleviate the terror we must endure.

After everything, what is the main message of the Serb List?

To be united, patient. With our state Serbia, we will remain and survive. This year, the Government of Serbia has allocated huge resources for Kosovo and Metohija. I would highlight that 5,000 of our socially vulnerable and unemployed compatriots will receive 20,000 dinars starting from mid-February, and the payment of assistance to children in school and preschool age has already started with 5,000 dinars per month as a meal allowance. The message to the citizens is to turn out in as large numbers as possible, because every non-appearance is a vote for Kurti. Let's go out and circle 112. Because only in this way can we stay and survive on our land. Divided we certainly will not be able to.