Martinovic and Mitrovic: Svecla’s statements tendentious and highly irresponsible

The President and Acting Director of the Coordination Body of the Government of the Republic of Serbia for the Municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac, and Medvedja, Aleksandar Martinovic and Nenad Mitrovic, strongly rejected today the accusations made by Kosovo’s acting Minister of Internal Affairs, Xhelal Svecla, on social media regarding alleged human rights violations and ethnic cleansing of members of the Albanian community in those municipalities.

According to the statement from the Coordination Body, Serbia remains firmly committed to the policy of full integration of all communities, respect for human and minority rights, and ensuring equal opportunities for all citizens, regardless of their ethnic background.

"In line with this, in the municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac, and Medvedja, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Serbia ensures the functioning of multiethnic police structures, in which members of the Serbian, Albanian, and Roma communities are equally represented," the statement reads.

It is added that the Ministry of Internal Affairs has repeatedly issued public calls for the recruitment of new police officers, but, unfortunately, interest among candidates from the Albanian community has remained very low.

"Calls for the imposition of international sanctions against the Republic of Serbia, based on unfounded claims of ethnic cleansing, represent baseless, tendentious, and highly irresponsible statements, which can seriously endanger peace and interethnic trust in southern central Serbia. Such statements are completely contrary to the facts and represent an attempt to politicize issues that are addressed within the institutions of the Republic of Serbia in a responsible, transparent, and inclusive manner," the statement continues.

The Coordination Body emphasizes that nothing similar is happening in Presevo, Bujanovac, and Medvedja to what is happening to Serbs in Kosovo under Albin Kurti’s regime.

"The police do not open fire on civilians during religious holidays, do not harass high school graduates, nor do they violate basic human rights. Not a single member of the Albanian community in these municipalities is subjected to the terror that Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija endure daily. On the contrary, human rights are respected, institutions are functioning, and all citizens enjoy freedom of movement and expression," the statement notes.

In contrast, it is stated, in Pristina, Albin Kurti and Svecla fail to conceal the catastrophic situation Kosovo is in, while the complete institutional chaos is evident in their inability to constitute the Assembly.

"While Kurti’s regime sinks into arbitrariness and violence, Serbia remains committed to the rule of law, respect for all citizens, and the building of a society where there is no room for discrimination," the statement concludes.

Yesterday, Svecla accused Serbia on Facebook of discriminating against Albanians in the municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac, and Medvedja and of carrying out ethnic cleansing, stating, among other things, that not a single Albanian had been accepted in the Serbian police recruitment process in those areas of Serbia.