Garic: Italian at the helm of KFOR is good news for the Serbian community in Kosovo

Italian General Roberto Vergori will take over as KFOR commander today, and journalist Milos Garic says that having an Italian general at the head of the mission is good news for Serbs in Kosovo, as experience has shown that they have the greatest trust in Italian troops.

“This is the 14th Italian general to lead KFOR, and the experience of Italian soldiers among Serbs has been the best. Italian Carabinieri have guarded the bridge over the Ibar River in Kosovska Mitrovica all these years, guaranteed the security of Serbs and provided protection, particularly around monasteries and church sites in Metohija. Visoki Decani Monastery has been saved from Albanian extremists on several occasions thanks to Italian KFOR troops. That is why this is, to some extent, good news for the Serbian community, because they have the greatest trust in Italian soldiers,” Garic told RTS.

He added that this did not mean that the outgoing commander, Turkish General Ozkan Ulutas, had done anything particularly wrong, but that he had followed the policy of his own country, which supports Kosovo.

“Turkey supports Kosovo's false independence and its forcible secession from Serbia. It is arming Kosovo and trying in every way to help establish a Kosovo army, which is contrary to UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and is not a friendly act toward Serbia or Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija,” Garic pointed out.

Regarding the amendments to the Law on the Specialist Chambers and reactions from the European Union, Garic said that statements by some EU officials were not particularly significant, at least not from the perspective of how extremist Albanian politicians view them. He recalled that there had been many statements in the recent period, yet the authorities in Pristina had nevertheless been given leeway over their irresponsible actions.

“Albin Kurti has continued his extreme anti-Serb policy despite all those statements. These officials do not have particularly great authority, and Albanians pay little attention to all of this,” Garic said.

He observed that KLA veterans currently wield the greatest authority in Kosovo and have considerable influence over political parties, particularly the DPK and Self-Determination.
“I do not believe the statements we are hearing will contribute to a change in the policies of extremist Albanians, including the statement by Marta Kos, who is not among the figures with the authority to influence developments in Kosovo and Metohija,” Garic said.

He noted that Pristina's main focus was the convictions of KLA leaders and expressed his belief that the authorities would try by any means to get them “out” of prison and would pay no attention to criticism, because they were aware that Kosovo would not be able to join either the European Union or any other major international organization anytime soon.

“In its current form, Kosovo is merely a Western protectorate, primarily of the United States. They are trying to arm themselves and establish dominance over the Serbs, which is wrong. They are not participating in the normalization process, but are focused solely on driving as many Serbs as possible from the area and preventing dialogue. And that is not good,” Garic said.
He reiterated that Marta Kos's statements were not something that would frighten the Albanians.

“Kos cannot influence Kurti. Much more prominent Western politicians and special envoys from Washington have threatened him, yet he has ignored all their warnings. He has even defiantly provoked senior US officials. Kos does not mean much to him. He pays little attention to her because he has his own policies, and Germany strongly supports him, which is important to him, as is the United Kingdom. The United States, too, still maintains the position that Kosovo's independence makes sense. We hope that this policy will change and that some mistaken steps that represented gross violations of international law will be reconsidered. We are waiting to return to the framework of international law. Then new winds will begin to blow in Kosovo and Metohija, agreements will have to be respected, and that will be the point at which Albin Kurti will no longer be able to act this way,” Garic said.