Simic: Dialogue brings peace, freedom, and security

The vice president of the Serb List, Igor Simic, pointed out in an interview for Politika that Pristina still used violence as a means to resolve political issues. Simic stated that the most important thing for the Serb List was the peace and physical security of the citizens in Kosovo, but that it was also difficult to predict whether in April, due to the local elections in the north and the expiration of the deadline for solving the issue of license plates, they could expect excessive situations.

Simic sees the greatest protection and guarantee for the survival of the Serbs in the words of the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, stating that he will not allow the pogrom of the Serbs like in 2004.

The Serbs, he points out, will return to the institutions only after the formation of the CSM and when the special units of the Kosovo Police withdraw from the north.

How do you evaluate the meeting in Ohrid between Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Josep Borrell, Miroslav Lajcak, and Albin Kurti?

As we always point out in the Serb List, dialogue is the only way to resolve open issues between Belgrade and Pristina, that is, the Serbs and Albanians, and in this sense, we see the importance of the negotiations in Ohrid. Of course, it is more than clear that the negotiation process is difficult, on the one hand, because the space for President Vucic has been narrowed due to everything that happened from 1999, through 2004, but also in 2008 and 2011. But the Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija have full confidence that President Vucic, as an excellent negotiator and a great statesman, will manage to get the best out of the negotiations. The negotiations in Ohrid concretely gave an opportunity to the international community, and above all to the European Union, to finally force Pristina to form the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities that we have been waiting for ten years, but not as Kurti would have wanted, but as agreed in 2013 and 2015, which would at least partially regain their credibility, which was seriously damaged due to broken promises, unimplemented agreements and the European Union's silent observation of the daily institutional violence to which our compatriots are exposed.

Do you believe that Kurti will keep his promise this time and form the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities? When could this process be expected to begin?

Neither I personally, nor the party I belong to, nor any Serb has the slightest confidence that Albin Kurti will do anything that benefits the Serbs. His policy from the time he was in the opposition to the present day has not changed even a bit. He is doing everything he can to make life more difficult for the Serbs. The danger is even greater that, unlike the period when he was in the opposition, he is now at the head of Kosovo's institutions, which he and his subordinates use to mistreat the Serbs and gain points for the populist policy he advocates.

That is why this question is primarily intended for those who were the guarantor of the agreement, namely the EU. When will the CSM, which you guaranteed with the signatures in Brussels in 2013 and 2015, finally be formed?

I must emphasize that the CSM is not a fad, but an important mechanism for the protection of the collective rights of the Serbs, and for the realization of the essential, vital needs of our people in Kosovo and Metohija, especially our compatriots in the south.

Are the Serbs returning to the Kosovo institutions soon, or only after the formation of the CSM?

At the joint meeting in November 2022, the representatives of the Serb List with the representatives of the Serbs from all Kosovo institutions from the north of Kosovo and Metohija clearly said that we would return when the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities was formed and when all the special forces sent by Pristina as punishment were withdrawn from the north, without any legal basis and in violation of the Brussels Agreement and even their legal acts. Without the fulfillment of these conditions, none of the political representatives, judges, prosecutors, policemen, or administrative staff are thinking about returning. For ten years, we were patient and tried to fight for the rights of our people through the institutions, but when those institutions started the most direct confrontation with us and our people, resignations were a natural reaction.

I want to emphasize that our resignations are a personal decision of each of us individually made without any pressure, but in full agreement with the will of our people who supported and supports us in the fight for their rights all these years.

Those familiar with the situation in Kosovo and Metohija see April as a month of possible conflicts - unresolved license plates, the construction of a base on the usurped Serbian land in Dren, the annulment of the decision in Zubin Potok, ROSU units, which occupied the north of Kosovo and Metohija, stationed itself on vital road sections, and enters villages, provokes, harasses, terrorizes the Serbs... Do you expect new extreme situations?

In the Serb List, we have always emphasized a clear position that what we needed most was peace, as well as freedom for our citizens. Legal and physical security, not that they can arrest whomever they want, for whatever they want, and even prosecute, without presenting any evidence for their accusations.

In this sense, I remind you that all the incidents we had in the previous months were the result of abuse of authority by Kurti's Special Forces, as well as ethnically motivated attacks that were never explained. In all these cases, from the wounding of Stefan and Milos in Strpce, and Miljan Delevic on the Bistrica Bridge, to the beating of young men in Leposavic, the Serbs were usually the victims. Therefore, it is difficult to predict the development of events, but it is a fact that the security conditions mostly depend on the message that international representatives send to Albin Kurti's regime. It is their responsibility to clearly tell Kurti that violence is unacceptable, that it will not be tolerated, and that his regime will bear the consequences if it continues to persecute the Serbs - because we do not believe in his awareness and responsibility.

Pristina does not shy away from threats of violence. Does this remind you of the situation on the eve of March 17, 19 years ago?

I am 36 years old and as far back as I can remember, whenever negotiations, meetings, and arrivals of High Representatives to Kosovo and Metohija took place or were announced, incidents, attacks, and persecution of the Serbs would magically happen. It is simply a matrix that creates a "new reality" in which violence is used as a means to solve political issues.

However, unlike in 2004, things are incomparably different, not so much in Pristina but in Belgrade. Today, the leader of Serbia is Aleksandar Vucic, a statesman and a man of his word, who has repeatedly said publicly that he would not allow the persecution and expulsion of the Serbs. It is our greatest protection and guarantee of our survival. There is no doubt that some dark circles in Pristina dream of a final solution to the Serb problem, that is, how to expel the remaining Serbs. It seems that in a situation where international representatives point out the problems of our people, some in Pristina do not understand it as a call to change their behavior, but in a way that “if there are no Serbs, there are no problems”.

KFOR says it will not tolerate violence. Can the Serbs count on the NATO or KFOR mission?

There is no doubt that the primary responsibility for the peace and security of all citizens lies with KFOR and EULEX, whose mandate is to ensure and preserve peace in Kosovo and Metohija. Unfortunately, our experiences from the past, especially when we talk about the Pogrom of 2004, are still fresh and that, like the memory of the crimes on the river Bistrica, in Gracka e Vjeter, Livadica, will always smear the reputation of the international community.

Nevertheless, I repeat, our greatest protection and guarantee of our survival is the word of President Aleksandar Vuic that he would not allow the persecution of the Serbs, which makes a difference compared to 2004, when the leadership of that time and now the leaders of the opposition, silently watched everything Serbian in Kosovo and Metohija burn.