Jevtic: Serbs in Prizren responded to Gazimestan with their numbers and peaceful conduct

Serb List Vice President Dalibor Jevtic said, regarding the recent searches of worshippers who came to celebrate the patron saint's day of the monastery in Prizren, that the behavior of Albin Kurti's current regime in Pristina toward Serbs is aimed at intimidating them, forcing those Serbs who live in Kosovo to leave, and discouraging those who come to visit holy sites from doing so. Jevtic also said that the unannounced visit of EU Special Envoy for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue Peter Sorensen to Pristina was a message that Kurti continues to misuse institutions to carry out repression against the Serbian people.

“The background to this behavior by Albin Kurti's current regime in Pristina is aimed at intimidating Serbs, forcing those who live in Kosovo and Metohija to leave, and discouraging Serbs who come to visit their holy sites from continuing to do so,” Jevtic explained to RTS.

He said that what was seen on Sunday in Prizren could be divided into two segments.

“One segment concerns the continuation of what we saw at Gazimestan, namely the repression by the Kosovo Police against worshippers who came to visit the monastery for its patron saint's day, and the other is the calmness and determination of those citizens, who responded peacefully to everything the police did that day, including searching women and even baby strollers,” Jevtic pointed out.

He said he had spoken with actor Milan Vasic, who told him that before his performance the police had detained him for questioning and asked him what songs he intended to sing.

He also stated that there was a visible presence of snipers around the Monastery of the Holy Archangels.

He added that the worshippers encountered another problem after leaving the monastery, finding that the tires on their vehicles had been punctured.

“That is a form of repression that is difficult to describe in words,” Jevtic stressed.

He emphasized that the response was song, and that the Serbs had shown they would not stop visiting their holy sites.

“That was the response to Gazimestan, when we said that there would be more and more of us. That does not suit Kurti. The message from the Serbs was: no matter what you do, there will be more and more of us,” Jevtic stressed.

Speaking about the unannounced visit of EU Special Envoy for the Dialogue Peter Sorensen to Pristina a few days ago, Jevtic said that the visit was actually a message that Kurti continues to misuse institutions in order to carry out repression against the Serbian people.

“The visit concerns not only what the Serbs are going through, but also the fact that there are fewer and fewer Serbs in the institutions precisely because of Pristina's actions,” Jevtic said.

He said that representatives of the Serbs from Kosovo, as well as Serbia's state leadership, are speaking with representatives of the international community and informing them about what the Serbian people are going through, but that he does not believe they fully understand it. He added that it is their job to continue pointing it out.

Asked how local governments function in municipalities where Serbs are the majority, he replied that the people leading those municipalities face numerous challenges and obstructions.

“Look at northern Kosovo and Metohija, where the police have essentially taken over the running of local governments and do not allow the lawful decisions of municipal assemblies and mayors to be implemented. You saw that the mayor of North Mitrovica and the president of the municipal assembly were arrested. That is the current reality. The biggest problem is that, through the use of the police, Kurti wants to prevent the implementation of the electoral will of the Serbian people, namely that Serbs should be the ones making decisions because the majority of the population there is Serbian,” Jevtic pointed out.

He noted that the ban on painting a mural of Patriarch Pavle and the naming of streets are only part of a larger problem, namely the institutional violence carried out by the regime in Pristina.

Regarding the announced constitutive session of the Kosovo Assembly, Jevtic stressed that with Albin Kurti in power there are no solutions, only problems.

“I expect nothing different after the constitutive session. That date is the penultimate day of the deadline for the parliament to be constituted, and it sends the message that the crisis will continue. We expect that because crisis is where Kurti performs best. He is not part of the solution but part of the problem, affecting not only the lives of Serbs but of all citizens. That is the reality, the situation is getting worse, and there are no signs that it will change,” Jevtic explained.

That is why, he said, it seems likely that another early parliamentary election will be held before the end of the year.

He said that the Serb List is not giving up its fight for the interests and rights of the Serbian people.

“This is a struggle we are waging together with Belgrade, and its goal is to ensure that we do not give in and allow Kurti to achieve his objectives. We are prepared for everything that lies ahead. The situation is not easy, but regardless of that, we know who we are and what we want. We will continue to fight in various ways for the rights and interests of the Serbian people,” Jevtic said, adding that the results of all election processes over the past year and a half show that the Serb List enjoys the trust of more than 90 percent of the Serbian people.

He said that this is a great responsibility, which is why they want to turn it into a genuine struggle for the life and survival of the Serbian people.

Asked whether voters are tired, he pointed out that Serbs are exhausted by everything they go through every day and that this is exactly what Kurti is counting on.

“He wants to discourage us in various ways, and these frequent election processes are also part of his plan. We must persevere until the end and not allow Kurti to achieve his goals. No matter how difficult the situation is, we will take part in the elections. That is our form of democratic struggle, one we have no right to abandon because we want to fight for our interests through institutional means,” Jevtic said.

He also stressed that there is no dialogue solely because of Pristina, specifically Albin Kurti.

“Kurti does not want dialogue, nor does he want to implement what has already been agreed, and representatives of the international community have not done enough to ensure that previous agreements are implemented. Pristina, and no one else, is responsible for the lack of dialogue. And I am not referring only to the dialogue in Brussels, but also to what could be a dialogue process within Kosovo and Metohija. When we want to resolve certain issues, there is no communication whatsoever, and that will remain impossible as long as Kurti is in power. He is not part of the solution and will continue creating problems for the Serbs,” Jevtic said.