Nikolic: Our institutions preserved; Jevtic: Serbs will never be foreigners in Kosovo and Metohija

President of the Committee for Kosovo and Metohija of the National Assembly of Serbia, Danijela Nikolic, stated last night that the administration in Pristina, led by Albin Kurti, wanted to “complete its sovereignty” through the implementation of the Law on Foreigners, but that the agreed solution prevented an administrative pogrom and preserved the status of Serbian institutions. Vice President of Serb List, Dalibor Jevtic, emphasized that Serbs have never been, and never will be, foreigners in their own homes in Kosovo, RTV reported.

Nikolic said that the Law on Foreigners was adopted back in 2013, but that the administration in Pristina, led by Albin Kurti, has now decided to “complete its sovereignty,” so he “pulled out that law.”

“We heard dissonant tones claiming that the law is connected to the Brussels Agreement. That has absolutely nothing to do with the Brussels Agreement. It is the same year, but the Brussels Agreement has absolutely no connection with the Law on Foreigners. Kurti decided to complete his sovereignty in this way and to expel those Serbs whom he could not in 2004, during the March pogrom. In this bureaucratic and administrative way, they wanted to complete that exodus,” Nikolic told RTV.

She noted that this is also similar “by date,” as everyone remembers March 17, 2004, and the full implementation of the Law on Foreigners was supposed to begin on March 15, so, she says, Serbs in Kosovo were rightfully afraid.

“There is fear. When you look back and live through the history that has occurred, it is logical that Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija view every institutional threat as an exodus. That is simply how it is. That fear is ingrained, it would only be repackaged somehow, because we cannot relativize March 17. It would happen, if not with tanks then with papers, if not with artillery then with administration,” she explained.

Nikolic added that this would, in fact, be a “shot fired at the Serbs,” but in paperwork and bureaucratic form.

“But definitely, since Albin Kurti came to power, the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija have been living in fear. Whether he listens to anyone or not is another side of the coin, but it is clear that this time he had to listen, which is why we had Peter Sorensen in Pristina,” Nikolic said.

She stressed that the agreed solution prevented an administrative pogrom and preserved the status of Serbian institutions.

“Yes, 10,000 people were directly endangered, but at the same time 15,000 people kept their jobs, those working in education and healthcare. Likewise, our students were already at their faculties on March 16 and no one asked them for any permits to enter or anything else,” she pointed out.

Nikolic said it would be good if the European Union and chief negotiator Peter Sorensen continue to act in accordance with their mandate, as this would lead to the first step toward normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina.

“This would also mean moving toward the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities. On the other hand, Albin Kurti received 50 percent of the Albanian vote, real or not, and that man said he does not want the Community of Serb Municipalities. Now the question is whether they convinced him, whether they will convince him, or whether he is now losing that support due to conflicts with Vjosa Osmani. Whether he will have it or not remains to be seen in the coming period,” Nikolic concluded.

Vice President of Serb List Dalibor Jevtic said that everyone living in Kosovo clearly understands the danger that would have awaited Serbs on March 16 if no agreement had been reached.

“We have said many times, is the situation ideal? Of course not, and given all the circumstances we are in, and knowing who makes up the regime in Pristina and what Albin Kurti’s policy is, thanks to the engagement of our state leadership, thanks to the engagement of President Vucic, Mr. Petkovic as the chief negotiator, and also the Serb List, which worked on the ground, something was achieved that should prevent Albin Kurti’s intention to misuse the law adopted in 2013, which was adopted before the Brussels Agreement, and thus create what we called an administrative pogrom,” Jevtic said.

He added that it is no secret that methods used in Croatia regarding the Serbian population there are being applied.

“It is no secret that Albin Kurti and his associates went to Zagreb for instructions and consultations on how to, so to speak, without conflict and without a shot fired, expel a certain number of Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija,” he said.

Jevtic added that there is another factual situation that allows Kurti to behave the way he does, namely the current global situation and the fact that attention, primarily of the West, is focused on Ukraine and the Middle East.

“Even before the implementation of the law was supposed to begin, which we oppose, no opportunity was given for us to act through institutions to prevent its application in this form. Because Serbs have never been, and never will be, foreigners in their own homes in Kosovo and Metohija. I think it is important to say that. But we cannot allow ourselves to just complain and then let something happen,” Jevtic said.

He explained that everything lasted for months and that Kurti’s ultimate goal was to create a different reality on the ground, to say, “well, what do we need the Community of Serb Municipalities for.”

“If tomorrow the institutions were shut down, Kurti would in some way forcibly integrate them. As far as we are concerned, that will never be allowed. We insist on the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities and that through it a level of autonomy be created that we as a people should have. That our children continue to learn according to the curriculum coming from the Republic of Serbia. Our children will not learn a different history about some other heroes, but what is truly our history,” Jevtic stressed.

He said the essence is preventing Kurti’s intention to expel around 10,000 Serbs from Kosovo in a single day.

“What will happen after possible elections in May? Circumstances may also be different there. But the fact is that no matter how much various actors are now attacking us, they are actually sorry that we reached a solution. Because if we had not reached a solution, they would have attacked us for not resolving this issue and for allowing 10,000 people to be outside Kosovo on March 16. That is why they are now regretful, because that is the political opportunism they use in such situations. Our job is to work, and the fact that someone will attack and criticize us, especially those who have never offered any proposal for any problem, does not change that,” Jevtic said.

Professor of the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade, Vladimir Vuletic, said that everything happening in Kosovo did not begin yesterday, nor 10 years ago, nor in 2004 or 1999.

“The process is extremely long, but of course 1999 was, in a way, crucial, and since that moment we have had a situation in which, in fact, all governments in Pristina have been working, more or less successfully, under greater or lesser external pressure, on what I assume they will not stop doing in the future either, which is the attempt for Kosovo and Metohija, or the Republic of Kosovo as they call it, to ultimately be recognized even by Serbia as a fully independent state,” Vuletic explained.

He recalled that the slogan “Kosovo republic” existed even during the time of Socialist Yugoslavia, and that the most important thing is that this process moves faster or slower and largely depends on international circumstances.

“In addition, it is important to use the overall strategic moment, because the question is how things will develop in the whole world, including this region, over the next five or ten years, and that is actually the assumption on which I built what I said,” he added.

Vuletic said that it is something entirely different – the political struggle to slow that process down.

“Everything that Serbia can do, and has been doing more or less successfully, sometimes more skillfully, sometimes less so, since 1999, is an attempt to slow that process while at the same time not jeopardizing, ultimately, the Serbian community as a whole. In the Balkans, we have seen that attempts to preserve Kosovo and Metohija through administrative means led to what happened in 1999, and those who were shaping the new world order at the time did not hesitate to use that as a pretext for what they did in 1999. We must be aware of that fact, and everything we do is essentially an attempt, on the one hand, to slow that process, and on the other, not to jeopardize Serbia as a state,” Vuletic said.

Vuletic emphasized that one thing is certain, and that is that Serbia, even if not a single Serb remains in Kosovo, “will never recognize Kosovo and Metohija.”