Macut: The decision to ban the Serbian flag on Vidovdan in Gracanica is a continuation of systemic intimidation policy

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia, Prof. Dr. Djuro Macut, stated today that “the decision by the provisional institutions in Pristina to ban the use of Serbian flags and state symbols during the Vidovdan holiday celebration in Gracanica is a continuation of a policy of systemic intimidation and institutional pressure on the Serbian people, who persistently remain in Kosovo and Metohija on their ancestral land,” according to a statement from the Serbian Government.

According to the statement, the Prime Minister emphasized that the ban on the use of national symbols on Vidovdan, a day that holds deeply rooted historical and spiritual significance for the Serbian people, testifies to a deeply troubling reality in which the rights of one community in the heart of Europe are being systematically extinguished.

“Prime Minister Prof. Dr. Macut pointed out that it is now evident that, although the European Union condemns the actions of Albin Kurti, he continues to act with the full support of Western countries. These actions are not isolated incidents, but elements of a gradual erasure of Serbian identity from the territory of the southern Serbian province. The Prime Minister has deemed them unacceptable for the Republic of Serbia,” the statement reads.

It is further stated that “Prime Minister Prof. Dr. Djuro Macut recalled that the Serbian community in Kosovo and Metohija has for decades been subjected to various forms of repression, which are increasingly taking the character of planned exclusion and persecution, with the ultimate goal of demographic and cultural erasure.”

“The Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, the Prime Minister stressed, are both physically and legally endangered, while institutional discrimination is being carried out with the tacit approval of the international community. The Prime Minister of Serbia added that it must be clearly and unequivocally stated that love for the homeland of Serbia, pride in the Serbian tricolor, and the vow left to us by our ancestors on the Kosovo field in 1389, represent the foundation of our identity and our survival,” the Government emphasized.

As highlighted in the statement, no decision, no ban “can extinguish that flame,” and the Serbian people will, despite all pressures, continue to bear witness to the truth, preserve their values, and commemorate their holidays with dignity, just as they have done for centuries, the Prime Minister of Serbia concluded.