Djuric: Kurti should be held accountable for violating all signed agreements

Serbian Ambassador to the USA Marko Djuric said tonight that Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti should be held accountable for not implementing the agreements reached, and that the Government of Kosovo should be sanctioned for irresponsible behavior which, as he stated, led to a series of tensions on the ground.

Djuric said in an interview with Al Jazeera television that Kurti resorted to unilateral actions since February 2022, which led to a series of escalations, in which each subsequent one was more difficult to solve, as well as that he was trying to use the tragedy in Ukraine for his own agenda, thereby undermining stability in Southeast Europe.

He also pointed out that, especially since February of last year, but even before that, Kurti had tried to undermine the collective rights of Serbs in Kosovo by unilateral actions and by refusing to implement everything that had been agreed in the Brussels dialogue, to intimidate and arrest them.

"He even said publicly that he would not implement the Washington and Brussels agreement," Djuric stated.

He stated that the lack of reaction of the international community regarding the CSM, in a way, encouraged Kurti to continue his irresponsible actions.

"Kurti should be held accountable for not implementing the agreement, and the government should be sanctioned for the irresponsible behavior that led to a series of tensions. Serbia was determined to calm tensions, every time he tried to destabilize the situation," Djuric said.

He pointed out that Serbia was always committed to peace and stability, because it had a lot to lose, since in previous years Serbia had made an "economic miracle".

"Now our GDP is 60 billion dollars, and it was 32 billion dollars, and we attracted 62 percent of foreign direct investments in the entire Western Balkans. We are fighting, but for stability, peace and the collective political rights of the Serbs in Kosovo, for nothing more and nothing less than what was agreed upon in the Brussels Agreement," Djuric said.

As he stated, since Kurti had not fulfilled his pre-election promises, he was now trying to "fill the ears of citizens, when he could not fill their stomach".

He added that Kosovo was not exemplary as some portray, and that many former Kosovo leaders were in The Hague because of war crimes.

He also pointed out that the number of countries that recognized Kosovo had significantly decreased, and that their number was now no higher than 83, as well as that Kosovo was not a member of the UN, whose resolution 1244 defined Kosovo as a province of Serbia.

"We want a compromise solution that would take into account the interests of Serbs and Albanians. A peaceful solution. On the other hand, Kurti clearly rejected the Washington and Brussels agreement, saying that it was arranged by the corrupt authorities earlier. And the basis of international law is to respect previous agreements", Djuric said.

As he stated, Kurti had undermined trust in the negotiation process, unilateral measures and moves, such as sending thousands of armed police to the north, where they should not be, and thus had caused instability.

"He showed that he does the opposite of what he says in the interview with you," Djuric told Jazeera, for which Kurti also spoke.

In his statement, Kurti said that Kosovo had not made any concessions regarding license plates, but only had given some time for implementation until spring.

"We want to give time to reach an agreement between Kosovo and Serbia, which is necessary for the normalization of relations. As a good gesture on our part, we said that we will not impose fines on those who have not changed their license plates by spring. But there is no compromise with the rule of law and the Constitution," Kurti told Al Jazeera, which announced an extensive interview with Kurti to be published on Saturday.

"I believe that it is possible to reach an agreement if there is a will in Belgrade and if the engagement of the EU and the USA is intensified," he underlined.