Gouillon: Today, children are suffering in Kosovo, and the Serbs are being arrested just because they are Serbs

The truth about Kosovo needs to "break through", and that truth is that children, innocent victims, are suffering in Kosovo today, and the Serbs are being arrested simply because they are Serbs and for wearing a T-shirt with a picture of a Serbian monastery, Arnaud Gouillon, the Director of the Office for Cooperation with the Diaspora and the Serbs in the Region, warned today in Washington.

Gouillon, at the conference "Prayer for peace, stability, and justice", dedicated to Kosovo and organized by the Embassy of Serbia in the USA, stated that this gathering was essential to present to the broader public what was happening in Kosovo.

"People in the diaspora are our ambassadors. This means that people's diplomacy, which exists alongside the state, plays an extremely important role. You are familiar with the US mentality and how they react. Therefore, we need to talk about what is happening today in Kosovo and Metohija, but also about the past. Everything that is happening today is a consequence of the past," Gouillon said.

He stated that the Serbs had lived for five centuries in the Ottoman Empire, and they had survived thanks to the church and the sense of history that had been passed down from generation to generation.

"That's why there are still Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, they have not disappeared, nor have they been assimilated," Gouillon said.

He recalled that at the beginning of this year, on Christmas Eve, a Serbian boy had been wounded in Kosovo.

"When you see that picture, it touches everyone. It touches the French, Americans, and English. We need to talk about it. We must tell that truth. The truth is that today, children, innocent victims, are suffering in Kosovo and Metohija, and the Serbs are being arrested just because they are Serbs, for wearing a T-shirt with a Serbian monastery. The truth needs to break through," Gouillon said.

He recounted how he had started helping the Serbs in Kosovo a few years ago, by collecting aid by selling pastries.

"We managed to gather around 12,000 French families around our idea. Each of us can do that. It requires continuity because nothing happens overnight. Continuity on a daily basis, over the years. The truth will come to the surface, and it is up to us to make it happen as soon as possible," Gouillon emphasized.

He thanked Ambassador Marko Djuric for organizing the event, adding that this was the second gathering of the Serbian diaspora in six months, which was a significant achievement.

"No one has done anything like that. It shows the state's care for the Serbian diaspora," Gouillon added.