Djuric: The statements of the USA and the EU have written a new political reality in the north of Kosovo

The Serbian ambassador to the US, Marko Djuric, told Kosovo Online that the release of Dejan Pantic and the statements of the European Union, the United States of America and KFOR represented an important legacy of the barricades of peace and the round-the-clock struggle of the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic's team. He pointed out that this was symbolically important news for all of Serbia, and especially for the Pantic family.

"Good news is also important in relation to the crisis caused by Kurti's regime, and that the statements of the EU and the USA have written a new political reality in the north of Kosovo and Metohija. I invite the citizens of Serbia to carefully study these documents, which are new sources of political and legal reality in the north of Kosovo and Metohija and by which the legal and political position of our side has improved compared to the period before the peace barricades. They wrote it precisely with the peace barricades, with their brave, but peaceful and determined protests, with the support of President Vucic, the Serbs from the north of Kosovo and Metohija," Djuric said.

As he pointed out, at the invitation of Vucic, he arrived in Serbia and joined the team dealing with the issue of Kosovo, with, as he stated, intensive and continuous communication with all parties.

"After the round-the-clock diplomatic and political struggle of the Serbian team, I have the impression that we are somewhat closer to preserving peace, with a slightly higher degree of protection of Serbian national and state interests, than before the crisis caused by Kurti's actions. The joint statement of the US and the EU explicitly guarantees the cessation of persecution of participants in peaceful protests with special emphasis that it refers to the participants of the barricades. It is a clear step in the direction of protecting the position of our people. And more than that, this statement is a consequence of the awareness of the pressures that the Serbs have faced as a result of Pristina's unilateral moves, but also of the justification of the Serbs' demands who are fighting for basic human and democratic rights with the barricades of peace," Djuric said.

He also pointed to the special importance of the statement by KFOR and NATO, which, as he said, defined, in a completely new and legally stronger form, the ban on the presence of the KSF in the north of Kosovo, and establishes the consent of legitimate Serbian representatives from the north as a necessary precondition for their engagement.

 "Thus, with the guarantees of KFOR and NATO, it is impossible for Kurti and any future government of Kosovo to decide independently in this matter, and as an imperative, it also mandates the inclusion of Serbs in deciding on the security of the north at that level as well. I believe that in the coming period, with strong unity with our people in Kosovo, with cool heads, tact and wisdom to continue to move things in very complex international circumstances in favor of the rights of the Serbian people and peace with everything," said Djuric.

According to him, in the coming hours, a key conversation between the representatives of the Serbian people from Kosovo and Vucic is expected.

"Serbs with Kosovo, for understandable and justifiable reasons, trust only him for negotiations," Djuric said.