Milovic: Is there an end to Pristina’s terror; the happiness of one nation cannot be built on the misfortune of another

The former mayor of Zvecan municipality, Dragisa Milovic, told those gathered at a peaceful protest in this place today in support of the arrested compatriots, that the Serbs were in favor of a peaceful solution to the crisis in the north of Kosovo, but he emphasized that the happiness of one nation could not be built on the misfortune of another.

"With this magnificent, peaceful walk of the citizens of North Mitrovica, all the employees of the Clinical Hospital Center, from Mitrovica to Zvecan, we wanted to symbolically show that we are in favor of a peaceful solution to the ongoing crisis in the north, now for the third week, but above all, we are here to show how difficult and dramatic situation the Serbs and our children live in," Milovic said.

He added that this was the third week since the Serbs in Kosovo had been informing the international and domestic public about the arrests and persecutions they were suffering.

"This is the third week that we have been telling the international and domestic public, and the world, that our best athletes, students, and workers are being arrested, persecuted, and now there is also a healthcare technician who works at the Clinical Hospital Center. Is there an end, brothers, and sisters, to this terror of Pristina? From those Pristina institutions, they say that we are an ethnic community. So, the people in our country declared us an ethnic community and, for God's sake, we are the most protected community, notin Europe, but in the world. Our people would say – it would be great if that were the case,” Milovic said.

He added that reality, facts, and truth said something completely different.

"It is true that since 1999, in the presence of tens of thousands of soldiers from KFOR, OSCE, EULEX, UNMIK, and the non-governmental sector, more than 200,000 Serbs have been expelled from their homes. All the cities south of the Ibar are indeed ethnically clean, that there are no Serbs, the truth is that we survived the pogrom on March 17, 2004," Milovic pointed out.

He also reminded that dozens of monasteries and churches had been destroyed.

"It is true that even today the Serbs are being killed; that they are being shot in the back; that our children in Zvecan are held by special units with long guns over their heads, because, for God's sake, the children were driving quad bikes. This is the truth in which the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija find themselves. And there is no pacification while special units are located in the municipalities in the north. There is no de-escalation while the most reputable businessmen, students, athletes, and respectable citizens are arrested. There is no de-escalation until they are released from the casemates, and while innocent people are declared terrorists," Milovic said.

 He pointed out that de-escalation, but also the rule of law, was being talked about by those who for years had been disobeying the will of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo to return the usurped land to the Decani Monastery.

"They tell us about the rule of law, and they declare us guilty in the assembly itself, without evidence, without a trial, without a court. This is a shame for the democratic world and Europe; these are double standards, one applies to the Albanians, the other to the Serbs. Finally, I want to say that we are against all violence and here we are all together to condemn violence against journalists and against KFOR and the police, but also violence against our innocent citizens who are arrested every day. I have a message for our Albanian neighbors - we lived and live together today and I want us to live together in peace in the future. I want to tell the democratic world that the happiness of one nation cannot be built on the misfortune of another," Milovic said.

He called the Serbs for unity and harmony.

"Let's not divide, let's be one as before, because that's the only way, and with the support, and we must ask for stronger support from our motherland, we will stay on our centuries-old hearths," Milovic concluded.