Brnabic: The opposition has no other platform than to criticize Vucic for Kosovo and Metohija

The Prime Minister of Serbia, Ana Brnabic, stated that the opposition is attacking the Government and President Aleksandar Vucic regarding Kosovo, because it does not have a real political agenda, so it is trying to create its own program based on conscious deception of citizens, RTV reports.

She pointed out for Blic that Serbia has no obligation according to the Ohrid Agreement, but the only obligation on Pristina is to form the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities, which she does not believe will happen, as she says.

Talking about the opposition, their protests and fear for Kosovo, she said that they certainly did not worry about Kosovo and that their fear was false, because they had nothing else left as a political agenda.

"Just look at what has happened since the announcement of the meeting in Ohrid: first they said that President Vucic was going there to sign something and organized rallies where their main slogan was: 'Who signs, they kill him'. Then, when they saw that President he neither signed nor will sign anything, they said it did not matter and that they never even said that he would sign," said Brnabic.

Brnabic added that they then announced the meeting in Ohrid as "D-Day" and accused the president for the millionth time in the last few years that he would "betray" Kosovo and that he would "recognize" Kosovo and that this has never happened so far, as well as that Vucic clearly said in the Parliament that this would never happen.

"Finally, all those who are in the opposition today participated in the government in one way or another until 2012, and all of them, actively and directly, little by little renounced Kosovo and Metohija - since 2001, when they released all Albanian terrorists on their own initiative and criminals from prison, through 2004, when they silently observed the pogrom of the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija, in 2008, when they reacted to the unilateral declaration of independence with a press release, and the then president fled the country, and in 2010, when they agreed to move the negotiations on Kosovo and Metohija from the UN to the EU, then with a catastrophic question to the International Court of Justice, and then in 2011, when the crossings were set up," said Brnabic.

She pointed out that, at this moment, only Pristina has an obligation - and that is the formation of the CSM, in accordance with the Brussels Agreement.

"We continue to be constructive. The director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, participated in technical talks in Brussels, where some progress was made on the issue of missing persons. But, all in all, at this moment, regardless of all the lies that the local opposition is spreading in the public eye, in the absence of a real agenda, the ball is in Pristina's court. The first item on the agenda is the formation of the CSM," said the Prime Minister.

She added that, based on her experience with the institutions in Pristina, she doubts that the CSM will be formed and reminds that on April 19 it will be exactly 10 years since the signing of the Brussels Agreement, which is the backbone of the CSM.

"Listening to numerous representatives of the international community, the CSM is still there, it's just not there, it will be formed, it must be formed, with or without Kurti, however, the situation on the ground is getting worse. In order to avoid the obligation to form the CSM, Kurti is intensifying provocations again. Serbs are being harassed, they are being shot at, Serbian cemeteries are being demolished, churches are under attack again, their property is being seized illegally," the prime minister said.

She points out that last year there were about 150 different attacks on Serbs in Kosovo, and this year, until today, 38 attacks.

"My question to the international community, and above all to the EU, is - how is it even possible for the EU to guarantee an agreement that one side has not implemented even after 10 years," Brnabic asked.

Speaking about the economic situation, the Prime Minister said that every crisis and geopolitical challenge in the world affects Serbia.

"I am proud that despite everything, Serbia continues to move forward with great strides. We are pushing forward even now. We have to find strength and a way to preserve all that we have created in the last 10 years and to create further," said Brnabic.

She pointed out that our inflation is linked to inflation in Europe, and that two-thirds of inflation is imported.

She states that some of the neighboring countries had higher inflation than Serbia, such as Hungary and Romania, especially the Baltic countries, so it is expected that in such an environment, prices in Serbia will also rise.

"We managed to slow down inflation by limiting the prices of basic foods and fuel, as well as by the good measures of the NBS. We continue to fight, but the most important thing is that the growth of average wages and pensions is higher than the growth of inflation, so that even in such difficult times times, we manage to maintain the standard of living of the citizens," said the prime minister.

She noted that she expected Serbia to continue economic growth and wage growth.

Brnabic points out that due to the increasing number of jobs in new industries such as IT, as well as investments with higher added value, we have a significant increase in earnings from year to year.

"This year, we expect that by December 2023, the average salary will be over 800 euros. In Belgrade, the average salary is already 930 euros, and it will be higher than 1,000 euros by the end of the year, so the average salary in Belgrade will be above the average salary in several EU member state, and we believe that the rest of Serbia will also follow this growth and reach the level of the neighboring EU states in a few years," concluded Brnabic.