Petkovic with Holstein: Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija denied basic human rights before the eyes of the international community

Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Petar Petkovic today gave Germany's new ambassador to Serbia, Anke Holstein, a detailed account of Pristina's escalating and unlawful actions carried out by Albin Kurti to the detriment of the Serbian people in Kosovo, and pointed out that the basic human rights of Serbs are being threatened and denied before the eyes of the entire international community.

Petkovic pointed to increasingly frequent, unfounded and politically motivated arrests of Serbs, citing yesterday's detention of nine Serbs from Zubin Potok, who were taken from their homes early Sunday morning.

He also recalled the unlawful demolition of Serbian property, brutal physical violence such as that suffered by Nenad Raskovic from Zubin Potok, and other forms of pressure which, he warned, the regime in Pristina is using in an attempt to drive Serbs from their ancestral homes.

“Our people in Kosovo and Metohija are having their basic human rights threatened and denied before the eyes of the entire international community, as no other people in Europe,” Petkovic stressed.

He also told his interlocutor that the dialogue being conducted in Brussels has been at a standstill for months because of Pristina's refusal to participate, and that instead of talks, Kurti is resorting to violent and unilateral actions on the ground that undermine all the achievements of agreements reached so far.

Petkovic also said that Pristina has been refusing for a full 13 years to establish the Community of Serb Municipalities, which the European Union itself guaranteed with its signature, and that Belgrade expects the international community to put pressure on Pristina to begin fulfilling its commitments.