Petkovic with the Hungarian ambassador: Violence based on religious and ethnic affiliation in Kosovo and Metohija

The Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija of the Government of Serbia, Petar Petkovic, spoke today with the Ambassador of Hungary to Serbia, Jozsef Zoltan Magyar, whom he informed about the difficult political security situation in Kosovo, which threatened to jeopardize peace and stability in the entire region.

During the meeting, Petkovic expressed concern about the unfounded and illegal arrests of Serbs, violence, and daily pressures to which the Serbs were exposed by the Pristina regime and stated that since Albin Kurti had come to power, more than 350 attacks on the Serbs, their property, churches, cemeteries had been recorded...

"The fact that since 2016 the Pristina authorities have refused to implement their own court decisions and return 24 hectares of land to the Visoki Decani Monastery, which is on the UNESCO list of world cultural heritage, clearly shows that in Kosovo and Metohija there is legal lawlessness and that violence based on religious and ethnic affiliation is carried out at all levels," the director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija warned.

He added that Albin Kurti's policy, embodied in the implementation of constant institutional, political, and physical violence against the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, had culminated in the appointment of illegal and illegitimate mayors and members of the Special Police in Serbian municipalities in the north.

"Although it is now clear to everyone that only the authorities in Pristina are insisting on the crisis and conflicts, who in this way want to avoid the obligation to form the CSM and call into question the further course of the dialogue, the director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija underlined that Belgrade, as the responsible party, will do everything to preserve peace in the province, which is badly needed by the Serbs on both sides of the Ibar," the statement of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija says.

Petkovic welcomed the Hungarian ambassador, emphasizing his satisfaction with the existence of constructive and strong ties between the Serbs and Hungarians and the two countries, which, as stated in the announcement, had been built thanks to President Aleksandar Vucic and Prime Minister Viktor Orban.