Petkovic and Botzios: Pristina attempting to deny the existence of the Serbian people

Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Petar Petkovic said during a meeting with Thomas Botzios, Director of the Adriatic and Balkans Department at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that Belgrade remained firmly committed to constructive engagement in the EU-facilitated dialogue process, but that the process had been stalled for months due to Pristina’s obstruction.

According to a statement from the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petkovic briefed Botzios in detail on Pristina’s obstruction of the dialogue process in Brussels, as well as on the unilateral and escalatory actions that, as stated, Albin Kurti’s regime was taking to the detriment of the Serbian people in Kosovo.

Petkovic also recalled that Pristina had refused for 13 years to establish the Community of Serb Municipalities, despite the fact that representatives of the European Union had also guaranteed its establishment with their signatures.

He stressed that, continuing to undermine all the agreements reached in Brussels, Kurti’s authorities had also dismissed Serbian prosecutors, judges and administrative staff under political pressure.

“Petkovic also pointed out to his interlocutor that 33 Serbian-owned structures at Lake Gazivode have so far been unlawfully demolished and that these actions were carried out in violation of the law and court decisions, as well as despite calls from the European Union for Pristina to cease such coercive actions,” the statement said.

He also said that Pristina was attempting to deny the existence of the Serbian people and, through actions targeting Serbs in Kosovo, was seeking to deepen and prolong the political crisis in order, among other things, to evade the dialogue.

“What we are witnessing here are not isolated incidents, but the systematic persecution of the Serbian people from Kosovo and Metohija and their planned political and institutional ethnic cleansing,” Petkovic stressed.

At the end of the meeting, Petkovic thanked his interlocutor for Italy’s engagement within the KFOR mission, as well as for Italy’s clear position on all outstanding issues that threaten peace, stability and the normalization of relations in Kosovo.