Momirovic: The campaign against Serbian products in Kosovo is a continuation of the politics of hatred and ethnic cleansing

The Minister of Foreign and Internal Trade of Serbia, Tomislav Momirovic, said today that Pristina continued the policy of ethnic cleansing and that the intention that there would be no more Serbs in Kosovo was obvious.

Momirovic, for Tanjug, as reported by RTV, when asked about the campaign of Serbian products, underlined that it had been a continuation of the campaign of hate politics, which 20 days ago had led to the wounding of an 11-year-old boy, and the other day to the car being riddled and the wounding of a Serb.

"We will not allow that. We are open to negotiations, as the whole world can see, but we will manage to protect the interests of our people, our state, and our economy," Momirovic said.

When asked what instruments Serbia had at its disposal, Momirovic replied that these were moves that were completely different from the behavior of any actor in Europe.

He pointed out that this was completely contrary to the EU's open market policy, which the whole of Europe was striving for, and a brutal manifestation of the policy that aimed to create a Greater Albania.

"That never happened. If you told someone in France or Germany that they put cartridges in the bag of snacks, they would think we are crazy. Disarm those people and that policy, and go back to negotiations. I tell our people from Kosovo and Metohija to believe to our country; that we are not withdrawing from Kosovo and Metohija, but that, on the contrary, we have never been more present," Momirovic said.

He assessed that there was obviously a lot of nervousness in Pristina, while Serbia promoted an open market, and that was why they had founded the Open Balkans so that Serbs, Albanians, and Macedonians could function as easily as possible.

"Our economy is not dominant only in Kosovo and Metohija, but in relation to the entire region. We also have a large export to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, why not also to Kosovo and Metohija, and that will only grow, and it should not be something that irritates our Albanian friends, they should be a part of it. That's why we created the Open Balkans so that all of them would join and benefit from it; so that they would have economic growth and an increase in standards, that's our goal," the minister points out.

He confirmed that Serbia's export to Kosovo and Metohija was in decline, but that it was still very large.

"And it will be even bigger, but when we have practically pre-war conditions, such stigmatization of the Serbs and such attacks, it is difficult to maintain that level of trade exchange with our province," Momirovic emphasizes.

He emphasized that Serbia had to promote the free market; create the conditions for more investments; to create higher wages to continue this trend; to increase average and minimum wages, to bring quality investors.

"We have more foreign direct investments than all other CEFTA countries combined," Momirovic reminded.

He emphasizes that Serbia is not protecting its market, but on the contrary, it has opened it up, and Serbian companies are becoming stronger.

"We are in the process of signing a free trade agreement with China, Korea, the Emirates, and Egypt. Ukraine is practically in our neighborhood and that war affects us the most on the territory of Europe, both politically and economically," Momirovic states.