Drecun: Kurti continues intimidation of Serbs in Kosovo with the aim of completing ethnic cleansing

Chairman of the Serbian Parliament’s Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs Milovan Drecun stated today that the authorities in Pristina are continuing to intimidate Serbs in Kosovo through indictments for alleged war crimes and the seizure of property, with the aim of completing ethnic cleansing.

"By taking away their property, intimidating people, arresting them over alleged war crimes, reducing them to second-class citizens, institutionally harassing them, and failing to respect any of their human rights, you are preventing the Republic of Serbia from helping them, while the Serbian people cannot survive in Kosovo and Metohija without Serbia’s assistance. So what is all of that? It is ethnic cleansing, only no one from the Western part of the international community wants to call it that. It is a form of quiet ethnic cleansing so that Kurti can finish the job," Drecun told TV Pink.

Commenting on the arrest of two Serbs in Zubin Potok on charges of alleged war crimes, he said that Albin Kurti is attempting to "counter" the upcoming verdict against Hashim Thaci by promoting claims of alleged crimes and genocide against Albanians.

Drecun expects the verdict against Thaci and three other former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) to be a conviction because, as he said, the trial clearly showed that "this terrorist organisation committed brutal crimes against the Serbian people, as well as against Roma and Albanians."

"Only now will the nature of the criminal activities of the terrorist KLA, which carried out brutal ethnic cleansing of Serbs, and also Roma, from Kosovo and Metohija, become completely clear. In addition to everything we heard during the trial, the evidence presented by the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office, witness statements, and documentation, it is impossible for a different verdict to be reached, unless there is strong political pressure and influence from someone in the international community to change the decision," Drecun said.

He stated that if it is determined that the KLA, led by Thaci, carried out a joint criminal enterprise, the idealised narrative about the KLA’s heroic struggle for liberation will collapse, which, he said, is what most worries Kurti and the authorities in Pristina.

He added that he does not see any willingness among the Western part of the international community, where the United States has the greatest influence, to pardon Thaci and the KLA group.
"There are no indications that they will influence the verdict or that the perpetrators will be acquitted. And I believe that is encouraging," Drecun said.

Speaking about the international community’s reaction to the actions of Pristina and Albin Kurti towards Serbs, Drecun said that, apart from statements, he does not see genuine willingness or substantial progress among most EU officials to protect the human rights of the Serbian people from the institutional, political, and physical repression carried out by Kurti.

On the other hand, he noted that the United States, during Donald Trump’s administration, became much more sensitive to human rights and the position of the Serbian people in Kosovo, stating that the Trump administration suspended strategic dialogue with Pristina because of Albin Kurti’s actions.

"They began a strategic dialogue with us and showed that they are now giving priority to Serbia and that Serbia is the most important country, not only in the Western Balkans region but in Southeast Europe. They showed that they do not view Kurti and the authorities in Pristina as a key and reliable partner, but rather that the focus of the United States is shifting towards Serbia," Drecun said.

Members of the Kosovo Police arrested two people in Zubin Potok on 27 July on suspicion that they allegedly committed the criminal offence of war crimes against the civilian population during the 1999 conflict in Kosovo and Metohija.