Djuric: Pristina was rewarded for not respecting the agreement and trampling on the rights of the Serbs

The Ambassador of Serbia to the US, Marko Djuric, believes that the assessment of UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, in the report on Kosovo, that the tensions in the previous period led the relations between Belgrade and Pristina to the most worrying setback since the beginning of the process in 2011, is not exaggerated, RTV reports.

Djuric stated that there was a continuity of Serbia extending its hand and approaching the conversation in good faith, with the desire to normalize relations and to respect and implement what Serbia agreed on.

"But, unfortunately, for that, we are punished by humiliation, pressure, non-respect of the agreement, and the creation of a new reality on the field," Djuric told Tanjug.

According to his words, clear messages from Serbian President, Aleksandar Vucic, and the state leadership could be heard in the previous days that such a policy will no longer be tolerated.

"Just as important is the message that Kurti and his regime must not be rewarded for unilateral action on the ground, constant violation of agreements, and joining this dialogue in bad faith and with the intention of harming the other party," Djuric says.

He adds that the correct assessment of Vucic is that there is no real dialogue.

"Both here and in Washington and other capitals, the strong voice of Serbia is heard that we want a good, orderly, and civilized dialogue and a great relationship with all partners," Djuric says.

When asked whether the formation of the CSM was an obligation of Pristina in Guterres's report as well as in the EU report on Serbia's progress, Djuric replied that "the time for signals has long passed and the time for concrete results and actions has long come."

He explained that the only thing the Serbs in Kosovo could agree to, after the election results on Sunday, were concrete actions and, as he said, the whole of Serbia and the state leadership stood behind them.

He is not optimistic that Pristina will speed up the formation of the CSM.

"For Kurti's disrespect of the agreement and trampling on the collective rights of the Serbs, as well as unilaterally changing the situation on the ground, Pristina was not punished but rewarded by accepting and welcoming the results of the false, fraudulent elections in the north of Kosovo and supported by certain European countries on the way to the Council of Europe," Djuric said.

Djuric pointed out that this sent a very bad message to Pristina that it was being rewarded for bad behavior and believed that it was extremely important to preserve the path of dialogue and stability on the ground to replace such a policy as soon as possible.

He adds that Serbia will work to send a clear message that reciprocity is the basis of Serbia's policy in relation to the countries of the international community.

He points out that in the previous 10 years, Serbia created a sound basis for its international position and that the state leadership led a balanced policy, so, as he stated, in this sense, the new foreign policy strategy would be very precisely defined.

On the expectation of the head of the Serbian diplomacy that the visit of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Serbia will be realized in the coming period, Djuric says that Serbia uses every opportunity in interaction with American officials to call for the strengthening of high-level dialogue and that visits by American officials are always welcome.

He also recalls that in February, Serbian President, Aleksandar Vucic, and Secretary Blinken met at the moment "when Kurti was making some unilateral moves and he could not get a meeting with high-ranking US officials".

"For Serbia, it is important that in America, it is not a country of one topic, and that American-Serbian relations revolve only around the issue of Kosovo and Metohija, no matter how fundamentally important that issue is," Djuric said.

In this sense, he adds that America is the number one economic partner in the field of services in Serbia and that there is a huge potential for cooperation in the IT sector.

He announced that a Serbian-American business council would be established in Washington in May, which would bring together some of the largest American companies that worked in Serbia and were interested in working in Serbia, and that would be done with one of the largest American business associations.