Petkovic: A difficult year is behind us, the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija know how important it is to stick together

A difficult year is behind us, one that brought many problems to our people, but we showed that through the strength of unity and wise policy we can be stronger than adversity and Kurti’s terror. As our President Aleksandar Vucic says, it has never been easy to be a Serb in Kosovo and Metohija, but no one has managed to break Serbian unity. The stronger the attacks against us were, the firmer our unity became, Petar Petkovic, Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, said in an interview for Politika.

Petkovic stresses that “our people in Kosovo and Metohija know best how important it is to stand together, side by side, because that is how we form the strongest barrier against the attacks of those who wish nothing good for our people.”

“We showed this in the local elections, when we preserved our municipalities in the south and regained four municipalities in the north of Kosovo and Metohija, and the improvement is already being felt by our compatriots, above all in Leposavic, Kosovska Mitrovica, Zvecan, Zubin Potok…,” the Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija said.

With what hopes and expectations do the Serbian people welcome 2026 and Christmas?

Life has returned to these Serbian communities, but there is still much work ahead of us to organize our municipalities according to the needs of our people, and that will be our primary task in the year ahead, along with continued support for our municipalities in the south, opening new jobs, building new houses, providing financial assistance and implementing many other projects. The recently concluded December elections as well, in which the Serbian people and the Serb List achieved another convincing victory and won 3,000 more votes compared to the February elections, show that together we want to build a better future in these areas. That is why I am convinced that the year ahead will also be a year of even greater Serbian strength and unity in Kosovo and Metohija. I wish our people to spend the upcoming Christmas holidays in peace and good health with their loved ones, in unity with their Church and compatriots, and to build a better future in these areas together with their state of Serbia.

How safe are Serbs in Kosovo in such a poisoned atmosphere?

The endangered security of our people in Kosovo and Metohija is the greatest challenge we face, as evidenced by more than 700 ethnically motivated incidents, attacks on our children and churches, and arbitrary arrests of our compatriots on political grounds… Every day, at every step and meeting, we present to representatives of the international community how endangered Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija are and how their basic human rights are being violated. Through a diplomatic and political offensive, we have succeeded in raising the issue of the endangered rights of the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija to a high level in international circles, which is clearly reflected in the sessions of the UN Security Council, where one can now clearly hear what problems our people face every day and everywhere. We will continue to persist in this pressure toward the international community, because the world must know how much injustice the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija are suffering in the heart of Europe in the 21st century.

How do you comment on the fact that since Kurti came to power, Serbs have become legitimate targets?

It is well known that Kurti’s agenda is an anti-Serbian policy aimed at driving everything Serbian out of Kosovo and Metohija. Our churches and monasteries are under attack, our people are targeted every day, and despite everything they heroically persevere and protect their homes. There is almost no family in Kosovo and Metohija that has not come under attack by the regime in Pristina, and neither our women, children, churches nor cemeteries have been spared… We must not forget how, on Christmas Eve, a member of the so-called Kosovo Security Forces, Azem Kurtaj, shot two Serbian boys, Stefan and Milos, in Gotovusa in Strpce simply because they were carrying a Christmas oak branch… International representatives must not turn a blind eye to this, because they have been entrusted with the mandate to protect the Serbian people and to serve as a barrier against Kurti’s terror. I would also like to emphasize that our people, despite everything, have not fallen for Kurti’s provocations, nor have they bowed their heads, but proudly and with dignity carry and preserve the Serbian name and surname in Kosovo and Metohija, and for that reason they are true heroes of our time, worthy of their ancestors and future generations. Few nations could endure this and emerge even stronger and more united.

Do you expect changes for the better after the elections and in this year as well?

First of all, I want to congratulate our people on the high voter turnout, on the responsibility they showed, as they heeded the call of their President Aleksandar Vucic and supported our Serb List. When you look today at Kosovska Mitrovica, a phoenix city that is alive again and where children’s laughter can be heard once more, when you hear the bells from our Gracanica, when you hear the cries of newborn babies in the maternity ward in Pasjane, where more and more Serbian children are born each year, that is enough for us to know and believe that better times are coming. There is no more beautiful sight than the Serbian tricolor proudly flying in Serbian communities in Kosovo and Metohija, as we could see during the recent campaign, and those scenes are the best answer to all those who would like us not to exist in these areas. No one can tear the state of Serbia out of the hearts of our people in Kosovo and Metohija, because that umbilical bond with Belgrade is unbreakable. This was shown by the magnificent turnout of Serbs in the elections and the responsibility our people demonstrated, showing that they trust only their state of Serbia and President Vucic.

Kurti did everything to prevent the Serb List from politically competing in the elections?

We had no doubt that Kurti would do everything to try to politically decapitate the Serbs and ban the Serb List, because he knows that it fights uncompromisingly and decisively for the interests of the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija. The Serb List bothers Kurti precisely because it is the only Serbian party, because it has the support of the state of Serbia, because it does not accept Kurti’s blackmail but strongly resists daily terror. That is why Kurti is conducting dozens of proceedings against the party’s leadership, abolishing their guaranteed seats in the provincial parliament, but he received the strongest response in the form of Serbian unity. The election figures show this best. With increased turnout in Serbian communities, the Serb List won more than a thousand new votes in Kosovska Mitrovica compared to the February elections, with the same result in Leposavic, Zvecan and all Serbian communities. That is a lesson Kurti and his separatists should learn. When he failed to shut down the Serb List, he decided to push his obedient follower Nenad Rasic into parliament through electoral engineering, using Albanian votes, which is contrary even to Pristina’s regulations.

In what way?

Imagine Rasic receiving votes in purely Albanian areas that have been ethnically completely cleansed of Serbs. Thus, in Prizren and Djakovica he received almost 400 votes, even though it is well known that there have long been no Serbs there. The situation is the same in other de-Serbianized places. Kurti gifted his obedient follower votes in Kacanik, Podujevo, Glogovac, Mamusa, Urosevac… That is why he is not, nor can he be, a Serbian representative, but Kurti’s, as evidenced by all the anti-Serbian decisions he voted for and supported.

What is the position of the Serbian Orthodox Church? Attacks on monasteries and churches are almost a daily occurrence in Kosovo?

Our Church in Kosovo and Metohija has always shared the fate of our people and gone through all trials together with them. Orthodox churches and monasteries in Kosovo and Metohija, as living places of faith, unity and continuity, were and will remain our strongest stronghold in Kosovo and Metohija. Thanks to our faithful people and our Metropolitan Teodosije, our vigil lamps remain lit in Kosovo and Metohija. Representatives of international missions operating in Kosovo and Metohija are informed about the endangerment of our holy sites through numerous visits to our shrines, where they can personally see and learn about all the hardships faced by our Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo and Metohija. Peace and coexistence cannot be built on the actions of extremists who, emboldened by the incendiary rhetoric of politicians from Pristina, attack our holy sites, remove church flags, loot churches, destroy monuments to Serbian victims and desecrate our cemeteries… But when you see the most beautiful scenes from Decani, Gracanica and numerous churches throughout Kosovo and Metohija, with courtyards full of people for Christmas and other holidays, that unity gives faith and strength that we will remain on our centuries-old hearths.

You have spoken several times with the Pristina delegation in Brussels. What were those talks like?

There are no easy talks in Brussels, because we know that the survival of our people depends on them. They often last up to ten hours a day, and with an entire team of experts in our delegation we fight for every word and every paragraph of the agreement, but no matter how difficult those talks are, it is even harder for our people on the ground. That is why dialogue has no alternative for us, because it is better to have problems at the negotiating table and resolve them there than for our people to suffer. Dialogue for us means a search for compromise and sustainable solutions, while in Pristina those words are forbidden. Unfortunately, we do not have a reliable interlocutor on the Pristina side, because they undermine and trample on all previously reached agreements, starting with the First Agreement on the Normalization of Relations, which provided for the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities.

For more than 12 years?

We have entered the thirteenth year of Pristina’s refusal to fulfill its previously assumed obligations and form the CSM, whose implementation is also guaranteed by the European Union. Under such conditions, it is impossible to negotiate. Rest assured that in 2026 as well we will strongly insist on the formation of the CSM as a key issue in the dialogue and normalization process, and that we will continue to preserve peace and stability, act responsibly and seek compromise.

Did you expect so much work when you accepted the position of Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija?

There is no greater honor, but also no greater obligation, than to serve your state and your people in Kosovo and Metohija. Knowing how many problems our people in Kosovo and Metohija face due to the unilateral and escalatory moves of Albin Kurti and Pristina, our team at the Office for Kosovo and Metohija is at the service of our people every day, because the situation in which our compatriots live demands it. This is not and cannot be just a job, but a calling. Direct communication with President Aleksandar Vucic, who is always ready, day or night, to listen and help with all issues related to Kosovo and Metohija and our people, is of crucial importance for our work and activities on the ground, along with the support of the entire Government of Serbia.

What are the plans of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija for 2026?

A year is behind us in which we had a historic budget of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija to help our people in the province, and I believe that will be the case this year as well. At the end of December, we opened a competition for 300 new jobs in healthcare, and around January 15 the competition for 700 medical and non-medical staff in Serbian healthcare institutions in Kosovo and Metohija will conclude, resulting in new employment. That is 1,000 new jobs in healthcare in Kosovo and Metohija, along with numerous other assistance projects. I would remind you that since February we have introduced an extremely important measure, namely that every one of our people who has no income on any basis receives 20,000 dinars in assistance every month. Also, every one of our children attending kindergarten, primary or secondary school receives a monthly snack allowance of 5,000 dinars… Over the past two years, 1,158 packages of construction material have been delivered for the reconstruction of our houses in Kosovo and Metohija, and in the same period 152 Serbian families have received or will soon move into new houses. That is the essence of a responsible policy, to take care of every one of our people, every house and every child, and we will continue with such a policy in 2026 as well.