Jevtic: Through the arrests they want to instill fear among Serbian voters, they will receive a clear message on June 7

The vice president of the Serb List, Dalibor Jevtic, stated that the arrest of directors of healthcare and educational institutions from the Gracanica area is a political process initiated by Nenad Rasic with the aim of instilling fear among Serbian voters and those who want to support the Serb List, and in some way sending the message that anyone who wants to vote for the Serb List could end up in such a situation.

In a statement to Tanjug, he emphasized that neither Rasic nor Albin Kurti understand that in situations like this the Serbian people become even more united, and that the response to such a situation will come on June 7, when, as he said, Serbs will very clearly say that they do not want Kurti’s proxies within the Serbian community and that they do not want to support those who do nothing in the interest of the Serbian people, Telegraf reports.

“What is sad is that the Serbs were ordered into 30-day detention without a single relevant piece of evidence, without any, as the lawyers themselves said after the hearing, solely on the basis of statements from individuals from Rasic’s party. So these people, honorable people, directors, respected professors, doctors, were placed in detention simply in order to, as I already said at the beginning, instill fear among Serbs ahead of these parliamentary elections that will be held on June 7,” Jevtic said.

He also stressed that this is yet another organized process against the Serb List and the Serbian people, with a very clear goal that has now been unequivocally confirmed.

“When we speak, if we already want to speak about so-called influence on voters, then is influence on voters not exactly what is being done through the arrest of these honorable Serbs? Is influence on voters not also the fact that yesterday Kurti made a decision to distribute 100 euros to pensioners, students, and whoever else now ahead of the elections? Is not every arrest and threat against Serbs, and everything the regime in Pristina has been doing for some time now, especially ahead of the elections, also influence on voters? That is concrete influence on voters, where he wants to reduce the number of Serbs who will go out to vote and in that way reduce the number of those who will vote for the Serb List,” he said.

Asked why Rasic is doing this, Jevtic said that Rasic, who himself comes from Gracanica, probably believes he has the greatest influence there and therefore expects to receive the greatest support there.

“But what is also a fact is that the Serb List enjoys enormous support precisely in Gracanica, and that is why, among other things, this kind of action was specifically carried out there in central Kosovo as well,” Jevtic said.

He reminded that the Serbian community has 10 guaranteed seats in the parliament in Pristina and that the Serb List expects to win all ten.

He added that in the previous elections there was a situation where, through electoral engineering in Djakovica, Decani, and other municipalities where there are almost no Serbs or no Serbs at all, Rasic received votes, which is another example of so-called influence on voters.

“And if anyone should go to prison because of that, it is precisely those who organized such voting. And when we speak about the Albanian community, the return of Vjosa Osmani to the Democratic League of Kosovo will certainly influence a different election result. Kurti will probably have a lower percentage and therefore a smaller number of deputies in the next convocation of the Kosovo Assembly,” Jevtic said.

He also said that they will probably receive polling results in the last week of the campaign and have a clearer picture, but that everything they currently have and see at this moment is that the Democratic League of Kosovo with Vjosa Osmani is leading a positive campaign that is changing the situation on the ground, which is why a different result can be expected.

“Whether that will be below 40 deputies I cannot say at this moment, but it is almost certain that the result we had on December 28 last year will change,” he assessed.

Asked about the security situation, Jevtic said that it is always fragile, and when it comes to the position of Serbs in Kosovo, uncertain.

“Because of the moves of Albin Kurti, fabricated indictments and arrests, various actions, and now when we have a situation like this ahead of the elections, announcements about the formation of a gendarmerie, weapons purchases, in other words saber-rattling, that is what Kurti is doing,” Jevtic said.

According to him, the reaction of the international community is far too mild, because so far there has been no change in Albin Kurti’s way of acting.

“If the international community had done what is its job, I am certain that such and similar actions would not happen, and it would not be allowed for Albin Kurti to violate even those provisions of the law that exist here in Kosovo, which in some way protect the interests of non-majority communities. There was no reaction regarding the arrest of the seven Serbs either. We speak with representatives of the international community on a daily basis, because this is a continuous process, not only now when it comes to the arrest of these seven Serbs, but also processes related to fabricated indictments concerning alleged war crimes,” he said.