Dacic: The Serbs in Kosovo are a tough nut to crack; they have been surviving in difficult conditions for decades

The greatest challenge to national security is the position of the Serbs in Kosovo, namely the continuous endeavor of Albin Kurti to create conditions under which Serbs themselves conclude that it is impossible to survive and that leads to their disappearance, today the First Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of Serbia and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ivica Dacic assessed.

"There is a whole range of factors that pose a challenge when it comes to national security. The biggest problem is Kosovo and Metohija and the position of the Serbs. Our task is to ensure that the Serbs survive. The Serbs are a tough nut to crack and have been surviving for decades, even though the conditions are far from ideal," Dacic said for TV Pink.

He pointed out that the Serbs lacked basic human rights, lacked security, were subjected to constant arrests, threats, and economic blockades, and could not receive salaries and pensions, which made their life difficult in Kosovo.

"Kurti is the one who finds points that can provoke escalation. That is his policy. It provokes escalation, and problems, and everyone in the world rushes to solve those problems, but essentially it did not have to come to those problems. One example is everything that is happening regarding the dinar. Why was that measure necessary? Who needs it now? What is the problem with having payment transactions within Serbia, between central Serbia and Kosovo? Simply put, this is intended to show yet another attribute of independence," Dacic believes.

He said that he would understand if they had had their own currency and demanded that payments be made in their own currency in pursuit of their alleged independence, but, he added, they used the euro, which was not their currency.

He emphasized that this issue has never been part of the dialogue.

He posed a question to the international community: "Can you discipline Kurti or not?"

"The whole world can be conquered, but you cannot reason with Kurti. I really cannot believe that. Here, the only question is whether they will or will not," he emphasized.

Dacic said that the second segment of challenges to national security was jeopardizing the Serbs in Republika Srpska.

He recalled that once again, on the occasion of the anniversary of Srebrenica, an attempt was being made to adopt a resolution in the UN.

The third issue, he added, was Serbia's European integration.

"The intention is to include the question of the so-called Ohrid Agreement in Chapter 35, to fulfill all the obligations that we allegedly undertook, and the President of Serbia has excluded our country from two points, which means from two parts - one that can somehow influence the image and impose the stance that Serbia agrees with the attributes of de jure or de facto recognition of independence, and the other related to Kosovo's membership in the UN or its institutions. Suppose someone now tries to make full implementation of the Ohrid Agreement a condition for our accession to the EU. In that case, they lead to the fact that you have to consider recognizing Kosovo before completing the process, thereby setting a new obstacle in European integrations," Dacic concluded.