Petkovic: Kurti brings us to the brink of conflict; misleads Escobar and Lajcak because he does not want the CSM

The Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, said today that Albin Kurti had brought us to the very edge of conflict with his violent policy and that it was clear that he wanted to set fire not only to the north of Kosovo and Metohija but to the entire region, in order to provoke an unmeasured reaction from the Serbs, to involve them as well and Belgrade into conflict with the international community and thus to avoid the formation of the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities.

Petkovic stated on TV Pink that the Serbs had been peacefully protesting in front of municipal buildings in Zvecan, Leposavic, and Zubin Potok for two weeks.

"It's been two weeks since Rados Petrovic and Dusan Obrenovic were arrested. There is a video where Rados and Dusan are sitting calmly next to each other, while KFOR soldiers drag them into their cordon and hand them over to the Kosovo police. Why were these people arrested when they did nothing? Our people only reacted to the violent reaction of KFOR and the Kosovo police; our people defended themselves with fists and stones, but we were not the first to start, nor did we want, a conflict with KFOR," Petkovic said.

He asked why none of the international factors had condemned the arrest of Obrenovic and Petrovic.

"We all have those recordings; we showed them to Escobar and Lajcak. Of course, there were also injured KFOR members and we regret that, but why is there no mention of the Serbian victims, why no one is saying who shot Dragisa Galjak," the Director of the Offices for Kosovo and Metohija says.

He pointed out that from the moment Kurti had come to power, he had been doing everything to provoke a reaction from the Serbs in the north of Kosovo and Metohija.

"There is no one who did not condemn Kurti, the Americans were the loudest, Macron said that all the responsibility for the events in the north laid with Kurti and his violent policy. This situation came about because of everything Kurti did, by bringing Special ROSU Forces to the north of Kosovo and Metohija, on the Bistrica Bridge, shooting innocent people, building illegal bases, banning Serbian elections and referendums, and now holding shameful elections, in which the Serbs did not participate. And we know that the north is majority Serbian, and now appoints Albanian mayors, who were elected on April 23 in the elections where the ballots were counted by policemen with rifles, and who received 500 votes each; that's a scandal. And despite all this, the international community, instead of holding him back, supports the elections. Here, Hetemi did not leave the municipality building, he must not even look out the window, so what kind of mayor he is, who does he represent?" Petkovic asked.

He also pointed out that Kurti, with his extremist policy, incited extremists to attack the Serbs. He said that the Serbs were suffering both in the north and in the south of Kosovo.

He repeated that Kurti would never form the CSM and that it had been his idea to expel the Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija.

"You saw when they celebrated the anniversary of the League of Prizren when Kurti said that it was not a finished project and that is a fascist project, of 'Greater Albania', there is no place for the Serbs," Petkovic said, adding that on that same day, Serbia had marked the 24th anniversary of the adoption of Resolution 1244 of the United Nations Security Council.

Petkovic stated that the Serbs wanted peace, to have their future in Kosovo, and to pursue compromise solutions.

"But we cannot allow someone to trample on our people. In these ten years, the Serbs are the ones who have to get something, in order for the talks to continue and to move in the direction of elections," he said.

He also commented on the Draft Statute of the CSM of Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, pointing out that he was not the first to be interested in it and reminded that the German foundation "Friedrich Ebert" had also had its proposal.

"It is known what was agreed in relation to the CSM in 2013 and 2015. The Management Team, which is composed of the Serbs, is the only one authorized to draft the CSM statute. The fact that Kurti and Bislimi are now coming out with a letter to Mogherini, proposing their drafts, it all makes no sense. That is, it does, because Kurti does not want to form the CSM, thus he misleads Borrell, Escobar, and Lajcak," Petkovic said.

He pointed out that the Serbs in Kosovo deeply believed in their country and Aleksandar Vucic and that "they will not live in Kurti's fake state".

"Regardless of the difficult situation, the government and the Office for Kosovo and Metohija are trying to continue in impossible conditions with important projects to help our people. We would work even harder and harder if it weren't for this situation, where Kurti brings us to the brink of conflict. What are Hetimi and the rest of the mayors doing in Serbian circles, what is Kurti trying to do by hanging that “cloth” - the Kosovo flag? We will fight to preserve peace, to see what we can do with the international community to reach a solution," Petkovic said.

He said that among the measures were the increase in pensions, one-time payments of 10,000 Serbian dinars for those under 16 years of age, and the opening of IT centers in order to engage young people, to stay in Kosovo and Metohija. He stated that our people in Kosovo and Metohija were heroic because as he pointed out, it was hard to live in Strpce, Gracanica, and Velika Hoca, where they break crosses every day; destroy murals with the image of Novak Djokovic...