Dacic: Serbia will do everything to preserve peace in Kosovo

The First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ivica Dacic, stated today that Serbia needed to be cautious of all provocations and, as President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic had advised, Serbs in Kosovo should remain calm and trust their country, which would do everything to preserve peace, following yesterday's clashes and the deaths of three Serbs and one Kosovo police officer, as reported by RTV.

Dacic told Prva Television that in this situation, the international community was evading responsibility, practically allowing conflicts to occur in Kosovo and leaving Serbs at the mercy of the "Kosovo-Albanian Police."

"I say Kosovo-Albanian Police because it's Albanian Police; it would be Kosovo Police if there were Serbs there," Dacic explained, adding that the entire essence of the Brussels Agreement was for Serbs to govern in the areas where they lived.

He also emphasized that everything happening now was a continuation of Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti's efforts to provoke the situation.

Dacic pointed out that when a conflict had erupted in North Macedonia between the state and Albanian separatists, the entire international community had engaged in resolving that conflict, however, Serbs now did not even have the right to protest against the terror imposed on them.

"The Serbian people have the right to defend themselves and express their political will. As President Vucic said, those who have blood on their hands and participated in and supported the aggression against Serbia in 1999 are now continuing with that policy, laying the political and media groundwork to support Kurti's regime," the Serbian Foreign Minister said.

Dacic added that Serbia was in favor of continuing dialogue while respecting the principles agreed upon ten years ago.

He emphasized that the only armed force in the region should be KFOR, adding that such situations would not occur if there were both KFOR and Serbs in the police.

As Dacic also pointed out, the Banjska Monastery is a cultural-historical and religious monument from the 14th century, and there is no mosque from that period nearby, which confirms the centuries-old presence of Serbs in Kosovo.