Maric: Kurti showed his true face; his threats are not empty talk

A member of the Serbian Parliament from Kosovo, Ljubomir Maric, told Kosovo Online that Albin Kurti had shown his true face and his intentions yesterday once again, stressing that in the end he would "suffer and pay" because, as he said, "he is a dictator whose boots have Serbian blood".

"He went to Brussels and this time clearly and directly rejected the EU's proposal to normalize relations and de-escalate the situation, which should have created the preconditions to normalize life for the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, in four municipalities in the north. In this way, he practically rejected the dialogue and I would say slapped the international community", Maric believes.

He said that "even that was not enough", but immediately after the meeting in front of the building he sent a direct threat to the Serb List and the Serbs that they would "suffer and pay".

"This means that he intends to continue exactly what he has been doing from now on, which is to trample on the Serbs and their rights and to spill Serbian blood. He received a quick response from the Vice President of the Serb List, Milan Radojicic, who clearly told him that no dictator lasted forever and no occupier could subjugate the Serbs, who are unique and would remain so. And we all stand behind that," Maric said.

Mariv says that yesterday it turned out that Kurti's threats were not empty stories, because only a few hours after his statement, police officers beat two Serbian young men in Gracanica just because they asked for the sentence to be written in Serbian so they could understand it.

"They were brutally beaten, they were ordered to be detained and it was said that they had attacked officials, and right after Albin Kurti's statement, he showed in practice what his threats look like. His way of de-escalation is to further pressure on the Serbs because he wants Kosovo and Metohija without the Serbs," our interlocutor emphasizes.

He reminds that the Serbs are still "unjustly accused and imprisoned in casemates and that the tortured are waiting to see the light of day".

"We still have the presence of police forces with long guns in the north, searching and harassing the Serbs. Preconditions for a normal life must be created, and yesterday Kurti did just the opposite, went to Brussels, and said that he did not want dialogue, that he did not want to form the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities, he said that directly and openly. The CSM is a condition of all conditions for any normalization and any way forward in the cooperation and reconciliation of the two peoples," Maric pointed out.

He recalled that Kurti said he wanted recognition, not normalization of relations and coexistence with the Serbs.

"He wants to single out those who are ready to easily betray their faith and to present them as the embodiment of the Serbs, which is not and will never be true. The Serbs are unique and determined to endure and survive, to show that they will not surrender to any occupier, no dictatorship, and therefore not to Albin Kurti, and time will tell in the end, justice will take its course. Whoever is a dictator, who is a torturer and a hater, and whose boots have Serbian blood on them, will suffer and pay,” Maric said.

Speaking about the further moves of the Serbs in Kosovo and the Serb List, Maric pointed out that he believed that the international community also knew who did not want normalization and de-escalation.

"The Serbian community should remain united, point out the injustice, appeal to the international community, and hope for the better and for changes. I guess at some point the Albanians will realize that Albin Kurti is not bringing them anything good. Maybe the situation will change in that context," Maric emphasized.

The point is that the Serbs hope that the European Union, above all after yesterday's events, will take some more concrete measures.

"This is what we have been talking about for months, but it obviously took a little more time for the international factor to understand that there is no interlocutor in Kurti, just as Belgrade does not have one, neither does Brussels. What we can expect are stronger measures and possibly that Kurti accepts that," Maric believes.

However, he adds that the past experience with Kurti has shown that he is not interested in measures and that he has only one direction and plan.

"Yesterday, Belgrade came with the chief negotiator, President Aleksandar Vucic, with a concrete proposal to de-escalate the situation, and we as a party were ready to accept the EU plan, but Kurti did not want to, and this time it was said for the first time that Serbia, Belgrade and Aleksandar Vucic are not to blame but that it is Kurti's fault. He does not want peace, or de-escalation, but wants conflict and does not want to form the CSM, which follows according to the agreements of 2013 and 2015. He clearly told them that he was not interested in that, he was only interested in recognition," Maric pointed out.

He assessed that yesterday's meeting had been unsuccessful, but that it had shown that Belgrade was doing everything, as well as the Serbs in Kosovo, to prevent the situation from escalating and to preserve peace.

He believes that the best way to de-escalate in the northern municipalities is for mayors and councilors to resign in order to create space for holding new elections.

"It is the international community that has to make a move to replace the mayors, because the path they predicted through referendums is not the right path, since it depends on the decision of those who are not voters, and secondly, it is a path that takes a lot of time, and there is no time. The right way is for the mayors and councilors to resign," Maric concluded.