Office for Kosovo and Metohija: Pristina aims to intimidate the Serbs with the new arrest; instead of de-escalation, it causes new crises

The Office for Kosovo and Metohija has confirmed that a 52-year-old Serb from Priluzje, Tomica B., was arrested at the Merdare administrative crossing and emphasized that Pristina's new arrest was intended to intimidate the Serbs in Kosovo with the aim of permanent expulsion.

"The members of the so-called Kosovo Police arrested Tomica B. (52) from Priluzje at Merdare this afternoon, without any explanation, and he was subsequently taken to Pristina," the statement from the Office for Kosovo and Metohija reads.

It further states that he was with his wife at the time of the arrest and was returning from Krusevac, which he occasionally visits. He is a father of three and has crossed the administrative crossing without issues for years.

The Office for Kosovo and Metohija announced that they had engaged a lawyer for the detained Serb, who would verify all the details of his arrest and provide him with the necessary legal assistance and protection.

"Through new arbitrary arrests of the Serbs by Pristina, a message is being sent to our people that they are not welcome on their native soil, and they are further intimidated with the aim of their permanent expulsion from the territory of Kosovo and Metohija. There is no doubt that this represents a silent institutional ethnic cleansing of the Serbs and the implementation of Albin Kurti's plan for an ethnically pure Kosovo and Metohija, where the Serbs are being told that they could end up in Kurti's casemates at any moment," the statement reads.

Furthermore, the Office for Kosovo and Metohija states that with its daily detentions and arrests of the Serbs, Pristina, led by Kurti, instead of necessary de-escalation, is escalating tensions and causing new crises on the ground.