Petkovic: Kurti demonstrated today that Pristina is the main obstacle to the normalization of relations

Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Petar Petkovic stated that Kosovo’s caretaker prime minister Albin Kurti, by once again imposing conditions for the continuation of dialogue with Belgrade, has demonstrated that Pristina is the main source of instability in the Western Balkans and the principal obstacle to the normalization of relations.

“Albin Kurti continues to spread a false narrative about Belgrade and invent non-existent threats, as part of what has now become Pristina’s election circus, incapable of stabilizing its own political situation,” Petkovic said in a statement.

He stressed that it is “crystal clear that the so-called Kosovo is the main source of instability in the Western Balkans.”

“Kurti confirmed this today by once again setting conditions for the continuation of dialogue with Belgrade, thereby demonstrating that Pristina itself is the principal obstacle to the normalization of relations,” Petkovic stated in response to Kurti’s remarks, made during a joint appearance with Marta Kos in Pristina, that three conditions are necessary for the continuation of dialogue and the implementation of agreements — the surrender of Milan Radoicic, the withdrawal of the letter sent by Serbian National Assembly Speaker Ana Brnabic, and the signing of the Basic Brussels Agreement and the Ohrid Annex.

Petkovic also pointed out that representatives of the European Union should ask themselves whether political instability in Pristina actually suits Kurti, as it provides him with an excuse to avoid his obligations within the dialogue with Belgrade and the establishment of the Association of Serb-majority Municipalities, as well as to avoid facing Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, with whom, as he said, Kurti is evidently unwilling to sit at the same negotiating table.

“That is where the real issue lies, and this is why Kurti, every time the continuation of high-level dialogue is mentioned, repeatedly sets new conditions for the continuation of negotiations,” Petkovic emphasized.

He added that Belgrade, led by President Vucic, neither avoids dialogue nor conditions or sabotages it, but accepts every invitation from the European Union because Serbia remains committed to the normalization of relations and the building of peace and stability in Kosovo.

On the other hand, Petkovic said he is convinced that Kurti fears negotiators such as Aleksandar Vucic, who is at all times prepared to confront him directly.