Petkovic: Conclusions from yesterday's meeting will be binding for the Serbian negotiating team

The director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, said that an important meeting was held yesterday with representatives of Serbs from Kosovo and pointed out that the five conclusions adopted at the meeting would be adopted by the government of Serbia, as well as serve as the framework for Serbia's negotiating team.

Petkovic stated on TV Pink's Morning Program that the fact that the top of the Serbian state attended the meeting demonstrated how important Kosovo and the Serbian people were to the country.

"The meeting was an opportunity to discuss all the problems that plague the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija. The decisions from the meeting were divided into a political part that was adopted at the meeting and that will be formalized at the government session, and they will be binding for the Serbian negotiating team. The other part is the economic package for the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, which was met with enthusiasm by the Serbs and shows the state's determination to continue fighting for the Serbs. We will reduce unemployment; we will employ 600 people with secondary education, 100 people with higher education, and 50 nurses and doctors. We raised the monetary compensation to 20,000 dinars, and yesterday it was agreed that it also applies to the employees of the Trepca mine, the companies Simpo and Jumko," Petkovic said.

As he added, the Serbs were even more excited when they heard what the government and President Vucic were thinking, who repeated that he would not allow new suffering and that he would not cross red lines.

"We clearly said that KFOR is the one who should take care in accordance with Resolution 1244, and the opposite is happening. They are shooting at our people; those checkpoints are checkpoints of death; ROSU is harassing Serbs; and their goal is to expel Serbs. Kurti is not interested in normalization; that's why Vucic said that there will be no tolerance if they attack our people, and we will try to keep the peace," he pointed out.

Petkovic clarified that the first conclusion was that Belgrade was looking for a reaction from the international community and to force Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti to stop violating the agreement on license plates and freedom of movement.

"Kurti has no right to stop and ban the KM license plates. If he doesn't want an agreement on that, how will he want the CSM? It is clearly underlined that the negotiating team will come out with the last compromise proposal; if Pristina refuses even that, Belgrade will come out with arbitration measures on the RKS license plates," Petkovic said.

The second point, he adds, is the formation of the CSM, which, he says, is a prerequisite for the return of Serbs to the institutions.

"It is necessary that the CSM be formed urgently, but not in the way that Pristina wants. We are not interested in that, we stick to the agreement, and we stated in the second point that everything must be in accordance with the agreements on the CSM. The third point is that we are asking for the withdrawal of the Kosovo Police Special Forces from northern Kosovo. They have nothing to do there, they are building bases contrary to the Brussels agreement. We will insist on the withdrawal of police forces. It will not be easy because it is about Kurti's violence. Many people say that Kosovo is a state, but for us, it is not. We are not only facing Kurti but also a part of the international community," Petkovic stated.

He emphasized that there was no reaction from the international community when it came to attacks on Serbs.

"In the belated reactions, they do not mention that the attack was ethnically motivated, but characterize it as an incident," Petkovic pointed out.

According to him, the fourth point refers to the fact that the government of Serbia and President Vucic stand behind their people.

"The Serb List and the people themselves made the decision not to participate in the elections. Kurti wants to organize elections for two percent of the Albanians in the north so that they could lead the municipalities in the north. This means that he is erasing the existence of the Serbian people. This effectively means that Kurti will be the prime minister of the municipalities in the north because he nominated his candidates. This reveals the Serb-hating intention of Kurti to expel the Serbian people and that two percent of Albanians rule over 98 percent of the Serbian population. Is this democracy?" Petkovic asked.

He says that Serbia protects the lives of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija.

"We have to keep the peace, but even that has red lines. If the international community will not, there are those who want to protect the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija," Petkovic concluded.