Petkovic: The situation has escalated; the Serbs at the barricades are sending a cry of despair to the international community

The director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, says that the Serbs at the barricades want to preserve the peace, as well as send a cry of despair to the international community, which cannot hear what is happening in Kosovo, adding that the stories about possible attacks on KFOR and EULEX are just the propaganda from Pristina, as well as that it would be a reason to accuse the Serbs and to invade the north of Kosovo even more intensively, RTS reports.

Petar Petkovic points out for RTS that another sleepless night is behind us, especially for the Serbs who spent it at the barricades.

"It is relatively calm, but the situation is tense to the breaking point, primarily because of the intention of Albin Kurti to deal with the Serbs in Kosovo and Kosovo with his armed actions and the incursion of the Kosovo police," Petkovic says.

He pointed out that we could hear the announcements that had come from both the Americans and the English in which they said that the arrest of Dejan Pantic had been an occasion used by the Serbs to erect barricades.

"Well, it's not just about that. It's not just the arrest of Dejan Pantic, it is because they arrested an innocent man and they're holding him who knows where, and they don't know what they're holding him for, because he's not guilty of anything. There are dozens of reasons in recent months and years that Belgrade and Serbs from the north of Kosovo and Metohija have been warning about. It is about violations of the human rights of the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija daily," emphasizes Petković.

Petkovic stated that there had been over 136 incidents this year.

"The Serbs on the barricades want to preserve the peace; the Serbs on the barricades want to defend the Brussels process; the Serbs on the barricades send their cry of despair to the international community, which just cannot hear them about what is happening in Kosovo and Metohija; which cannot see what is actually happening and that Kurti is invading the north of Kosovo and Metohija with the police," Petkovic points out.

"Which agreement is Kurti honoring?"

The Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija indicates that at first, they said that they had been patrolling police officers with light weapons, but that we see daily that in the north there are ROSU units, Special Forces with rifles, and armored vehicles.

"They have no right to be in the north of the Republic of Kosovo according to any agreement, it is a violation of all agreements, so let the Americans and the English and the Europeans and everyone else explain to us - which agreement does Albin Kurti respect today, which agreement does anyone in the West respect today and when it comes to the UN Charter and the UN Resolution 1244 and the Brussels Agreement and the Washington Agreement," Petkovic adds.

He adds that Pristina does not respect any of those agreements.

"You saw when they decided to postpone the elections that it was all just a show. If they already knew they were going to postpone the elections, why did they send policemen to break into municipal buildings, to raid the offices of municipal election commissions? What kind of actions should the commissions do if there would be no elections? It was clear that they wanted to cause incidents, to force the Serbs to respond to all those provocations, so they wouldn't be accused of the situation in the north of Kosovo and Metohija," Petkovic says.

"The Serbs are on the barricades because no one wanted to hear their voice"

When asked if the barricades were the only way of a peaceful protest, Petkovic says that he is in contact with the Serbs in the north of Kosovo and that they made the decision to set up the barricades.

"In this way, they peacefully express their democratic right; they defend their right to survive in the area of Kosovo and Metohija because no one else wanted to hear their voice. After all, who is bothered by these barricades; whose freedom of movement are the Serbs threatening with these barricades? Well, there are no Albanians in the north of Kosovo and Metohija who pass through those roads, so it cannot be said that in this way the Serbs prevented the freedom of movement of the Albanians," Petkovic says and adds that in this way they want to show that they are humiliated; that they suffer both institutional and every other kind of violence from Albin Kurti - that's what we're talking about.

"Why would Serbs attack KFOR and EULEX - this is Pristina's propaganda"

Answering the question of whether this state of emergency in Kosovo is the beginning of the war, Petkovic says that they are doing everything to preserve peace and stability.

"That is why we, all the time, call and say that everyone must come to their senses, in communication with the Serbs, and also through the message of President Aleksandar Vucic, we tell our people in Kosovo and Metohija not to fall for provocations because we have information from intelligence sources that Pristina had planned to stage an attack on KFOR and EULEX with some members of the Kosovo police, who would be masked in civilian clothes, then use it and say that the Serbs attacked KFOR and EULEX," Petkovic explains.

He points out that this would be an occasion to accuse the Serbs and to invade the north of Kosovo even more intensively.

"That's why we reinforced this type of message to our people in Kosovo and Metohija that they should not fall for provocations, that KFOR and EULEX must be respected, and that we want their presence in the north of Kosovo and Metohija because they are obliged to protect the Serbs and not to deal with with the issue of barricades", Petkovic says.

He explains that from the moment when the Serbian policemen left the institutions in the north of Kosovo, they keep saying that in that “security vacuum”, KFOR and EULEX must be present.

"Why would the Serbs attack KFOR and EULEX? We are talking, of course, about the propaganda of Albin Kurti and Pristina, which many in the West immediately took advantage of to talk about barricades but not about the reason how it came to this. The Community of Serb-majority Municipalities is still not formed - that is the key issue," Petkovic says.

"The Serbian flag was and will remain in Gazivode"

He points out that ROSU police raided Gazivode and harassed the porter.

"They put a torn flag on him, pointed a gun at his chest, and told him to declare himself and tell in which country he lived,” Petkovic adds.

"The Serbian flag was and will remain in Gazivode. We don't want any provocations and any incidents, we always insist on peace and stability - that's a message to the Serbs, and that's a message to the international community," Petkovic says.

Speaking about the statement of the German minister Annalena Baerbock, who said that it had been unacceptable to send Serbian forces to Kosovo, Petkovic asked if this meant that the Germans had taken over the role of the KFOR commander, who was the only one authorized to speak about it.

"The proposal is sent to the commander of KFOR in accordance with the UN Resolution 1244, where we request that in accordance with that Resolution which is in force, what is written there should happen, which is the return of our security forces, up to 1,000 of them, to the territory of Kosovo and Metohija," Petkovic said.

We will evaluate everything and in due course, we will inform you when the Government will formally send that request, Petkovic adds.

"We are talking with everyone, we are trying to preserve peace and stability in this situation, we are also talking with our international partners, and of course, those who can put pressure on Albin Kurti should do so, but day by day we enter into a new crisis and it's simply unbelievable to me that Kurti is doing it himself," Petkovic says.

He points out that everyone, who can, needs to put pressure on Kurti.

"That is why we are talking to international partners. That is why we are talking to KFOR, from whom we have a promise that there will be no such attacks, but many times we have been burned by these various promises and that is why we have to be very careful. I repeat once again - we ask that peace be preserved and the Serbs in Kosovo and Kosovo want that peace, they don't want to attack anyone, they are only defending their right to life," the Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija concluded.