Loncar: Shameful decision by Pristina to deny my visit to Kosovo

The authorities in Pristina did not allow Serbian Minister of Health Zlatibor Loncar to visit Kosovo today, the Serbian Ministry of Health announced. Loncar called this decision shameful and emphasized that it directly violates existing agreements.

"The shameful decision of the provisional institutions in Pristina to prevent me, as the Minister of Health of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, from visiting Kosovo and Metohija and meeting with healthcare workers and Serbian medical institutions operating in our southern province is unacceptable," the Ministry of Health stated in its announcement.

Loncar stressed that the visit was not political in nature but intended to assess the functioning of the Serbian healthcare system in Kosovo, which, according to him, provides medical services equally to both Serbs and Albanians, guided by a deeply humanitarian approach without any form of discrimination.

"But once again, for Albin Kurti, politics took precedence over people's health and well-being," the minister's statement read.

According to Loncar, this ban is a direct violation of existing agreements, as the planned visits to the Clinical Hospital Centers in Kosovska Mitrovica and Gracanica were announced on time and in accordance with all relevant and agreed-upon regulations.

"However, one thing is certain – neither Pristina nor Kurti will ever be able to stop us from helping our people in Kosovo and Metohija, from modernizing healthcare services, and from providing medical care to both Serbs and Albanians, as well as all other communities. For us, this is not a political issue but a matter of professional ethics and responsibility, and we will always uphold these principles," the statement concluded.