Petkovic: The last meeting in Brussels confirmed that Pristina is not ready to go in the direction of de-escalation

The director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, said that the last technical meeting in Brussels had shown and confirmed that Pristina was not ready to go in the direction of de-escalation.

"Their manner is to talk about it, and when it needs to be implemented, they will not agree on a trilateral meeting. We were ready to meet with the Pristina delegation, to have direct talks because that is why we are going to Pristina, to discuss the conditions that should enable a better life for both the Serbs and the Albanians," Petkovic told RTV Pink.

As he says, the fact that the President of Serba, Aleksandar Vucic, after the meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, said that he did not see room for de-escalation, because Pristina did not want it, clearly showed that Pristina was only faking negotiations.

"We should have discussed in a tripartite format for the sake of de-escalation, because what is more important today when it comes to Kosovo and Metohija than de-escalation in the north where we still have the police and the continuation of mistreatment of the Serbs in the north, and the situation in the south is not great either - not even in Strpce, Gracanica, Kosovo Morava Valley. The most important thing was to solve the crisis, to move in the direction of de-escalation, to withdraw the mayors who have no legitimacy, to withdraw the policemen," Petkovic said.

He states that he told this in Brussels to the Special EU Envoy for dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, Miroslav Lajcak, and this was also the official agenda of Brussels.

Petkovic reminds that Belgrade has fulfilled two of the three "obligations" to achieve de-escalation and that it has not fulfilled the third yet, because it must be done in parallel with Pristina, that is, when they withdraw the police and the people in the municipalities in the north will not protest.

He reminds that the chief negotiator of Pristina, Besnik Bislimi, had a meeting with Lajcak in Bratislava and that the EU had the idea to make some kind of intermediate step with that meeting with Pristina, which would enable the situation to be somewhat more relaxed when the meeting in Brussels begins.

Petkovic says that they could not reach any agreement because Belgrade is also necessary for that, but that they consulted that Pristina and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti show goodwill by reducing the presence of the police in and around municipal buildings by 25 percent and that everything else, including the withdrawal of the rest of the police, is agreed upon at a joint meeting.

"They say we have done our part, the way for the elections is open, that's what Kurti said on Twitter. Those 25 percent have not been moved, they are within 100 or 200 meters, they are just not in front of the municipality's door, but in front of the school, the EU knows that as well. Kurti is trying to trick the EU by doing that. Kurti is now trying to deceive everyone. And what about the CSM, what about the fact that the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities needs to be formed, and with the resignations of the mayors? Everything is a mockery of democracy when we talk about Pristina," Petkovic points out.

The Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija says that Belgrade is fighting, showing constructiveness, and doing everything to save the people of Kosovo, especially the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic.

In this sense, he states that Vucic had a good and significant meeting with Stoltenberg.

"Stoltenberg organized a dinner in his home, that's how he honored us. We gave him all the materials and reports about 384 attacks on the Serbs since Kurti came to power, about attacks on churches, monasteries, and graves, there are 54 of them, 15 attacks on children, 13 on medical workers and ambulances. We paid special attention and talked about innocently arrested Serbs and told them what Pristina was doing. We filed a report on mistreatment in Kosovo casemates where still three remained, and four were released," Petkovic said.

He points out that those Serbs should not be in prison because they have not done anything wrong. As he says, they also showed Stoltenberg a video where they were sitting quietly.

"We talked about all this and Stoltenberg was informed about everything. He showed understanding and knows a lot, even though he is also facing bigger problems, but there were also his associates who knew the details of what is happening in Kosovo," Petkovic says.

When asked to comment on the fact that the mayor of North Mitrovica has banned the construction of apartments, Petkovic asks if this is the first time that Kurti has taken unilateral steps after the meetings in Brussels.

"Last time, after a high-level meeting, they arrested Orlovic and planted a car with dynamite and weapons. And we submitted evidence in this regard, indicating in advance what was going to happen. This shows that what Pristina was saying was all a lie, what happened yesterday where the mayor, who has no legitimacy, made a decision to stop the work on the construction of a university, a school - who are they to deal with it, where do you have the right to stop projects that were approved last year and are in the construction phase. They do everything to complicate the situation and show Lajcak and everyone in the EU that they can call meetings, but that Kurti decides whether there will be de-escalation," Petkovic said.

He points out the difference in the behavior of President Aleksandar Vucic compared to the behavior of Pristina and says that after his return from Brussels, Vucic personally called and contacted all the liberated Serbs, and talked with them and their families.

"It is easy to talk about big geopolitical problems, but when the President calls everyone individually, it shows that you are committed to building peace and stability. Our people should not worry, even though the Kosovo army is arming itself, we are trying to preserve peace and stability, so that our people are not threatened. It does not depend only on us, but also on those with whom we cannot talk - Pristina, but we will continue to fight for peace," Petkovic said.