Petkovic: Times are tough, but we will never turn our back on our people

The Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, stated that times are tough and challenging, but the Serbian people must be assured, regardless of everything that Albin Kurti is doing and will do until the elections in terms of further persecution of Serbs, especially from the north of Kosovo, that they have one and only state, one and only President Aleksandar Vucic who will never turn his head away from his people, reports Politika.

In an interview with Tanjug, he said that despite everything President Vucic and the state of Serbia are doing, Serbs in Kosovo lack freedom.

"Freedom that is priceless. We are a freedom-loving people. Serbs have always been accustomed to living in freedom and fighting for that freedom. The upcoming elections (February 9) are an opportunity for everyone to fight for their freedom together with the state of Serbia, by voting for the Serb List, to change many things, to simply take matters into our own hands to stop the institutional violence that is being carried out against the Serbs, in Kosovo and Metohija," said Petkovic.

He emphasized that although Kurti and the regime in Pristina are causing great problems for the Serbian people in Kosovo, "every terror has its end" and he believes that this will not last long.

"With the end of Albin Kurti's tyranny, all his actions in terms of enslaving the north of Kosovo and Metohija, building illegal bases, setting up illegal checkpoints, and everything else that is being done in terms of hindering the flow of Serbian goods into Kosovo and Metohija, banning Serbian politicians and officials from visiting their people in Kosovo and Metohija, clashing with the Serbian Orthodox Church, dealing with ordinary people, arrests just because you wear a shirt that says 'No surrender', and on the other hand, Albanians who attack Serbs are neither persecuted, nor punished, nor convicted," said Petkovic.

As an example, he cites Azem Kurtaj who shot at Serbian children two years ago because they were carrying a Yule log, and who is now free.

"And so everything functions in Kosovo and Metohija. At the end of the day, even this fact that the CIK or Self-Determination has challenged the participation of the Serb List because the president of the Serb List used the name Kosovo and Metohija in a campaign ad. Well, leave aside everything I said. But the mere fact that Kurti is now challenging the Serb List, means that he sees it as the biggest competitor and enemy, and that should be the biggest reason and indicator to the Serbian people for whom to vote when it comes to Serbian political parties in Kosovo and Metohija," said Petkovic.

Asked how he sees the year 2024 and everything that happened, he says that many previous years were tough because Kurti, who is at the helm of power in Pristina, does everything to expel the Serbian people from the territory of Kosovo.

"All the numerous incidents, attacks, arbitrary arrests, everything that Kurti did in terms of institutional violence, violence carried out by the Kosovo police, and everything that created daily fear and distress among ordinary citizens just because they are loyal citizens of the Republic of Serbia is, among other things, what contributes to the fact that we have had an exceptionally difficult year that was truly full of trials," he said.

As he added, Belgrade did absolutely everything to maintain peace, stability, to influence the Serbs living in Kosovo throughout the time, sending a message of peace and telling Serbs not to fall for Kurti's provocations, and which did everything in the dialogue to maintain reason, to keep all those difficult issues that are on the Brussels table to remain there, not to spill over into the field.

"Were it not for such a composed, clear, and decisive stance of Belgrade, the situation would have been much more difficult. Because if you observe what Kurti does, how he behaves and how he will behave especially at the beginning of next year when the election campaign starts, it is clear to you that this man does not want Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija. After all, the goal of Self-Determination, as recorded in their political program, is a Greater Albania and ethnically clean Kosovo," said Petkovic.

He emphasizes that Belgrade does not agree to this and will fight for the Serbian people, for a normal life and to preserve Serbian institutions, but above all to fight for the future of the Serbian people in Kosovo.

Asked what he expects from the electoral process on February 9, Petkovic says that Belgrade welcomed the decision of the Serb List to participate in the parliamentary elections and that this is the only way Serbs can further represent a barrier to every terror and attacks by Albin Kurti on the Serbian people.

He emphasizes that since Kurti came to power, there have been more than 570 incidents - attacks on Serbian children, Serbian women, the elderly, Serbian property, churches, monasteries, Serbian cemeteries, but all this has further strengthened the Serb List to fight and show its strength again and in the election campaign call on the Serbian people to support the Serb List and what has already been widely known and proven over these years back, which is that the Serb List is the only legitimate representative of the Serbian people in Kosovo and the only Serbian list that defends Serbian interests in Kosovo.

"Things are very clear and simple - the Serb List defends Serbian interests, it is not Kurti's list nor Pristina's nor a list that defends the interests of Pristina unlike other lists which just have that prefix that they are Serbian, but essentially work in the interest of Pristina as we could see in many examples like (Nenad) Rasic who at almost every session of the so-called government in Pristina did everything to make it difficult for the Serbian people, including not opposing when it was voted to establish a so-called museum of Serbia's 'genocide' in Kosovo and Metohija. These are not Serbian interests. Serbian interests are when you fight for every child, that every Serbian pensioner and every loyal citizen of the Republic of Serbia in Kosovo and Metohija receives their pension, their salary, that institutions work, that you help in the field of healthcare and education, that you build infrastructure projects, that you are with the people, that you take care of them and that you do absolutely everything on the international scene to point out the terror of Albin Kurti, that the most basic human rights are being violated in Europe and that in this way you stand in defense of the interests of the Serbian people," said Petkovic.

Petkovic emphasizes that only the Serb List guarantees that Kurti or anyone else leading the future government in Pristina will not pass laws that are in direct opposition to the interests of the Serbian people in Kosovo, especially those laws of vital importance and interest for the survival of the Serbian people which will not be able to change the constitution of Kosovo, to make such changes in the direction of creating Greater Albania, creating the Kosovo army, and everything else that directly endangers the survival of the Serbian people.

For this reason, he notes, it is important that the Serb List wins all 10 seats guaranteed by its position in the Pristina parliament because this is how the interests and survival of the Serbian people in Kosovo are defended.

According to him, this is precisely why Kurti will do absolutely everything to try to form a government with all others who have that Serbian sign but are essentially working against the interests of the Serbian people in Kosovo.

He explains that if even one parliamentary seat went to such a representative of the Serbian people, he would be there "like a ficus" that would serve for Kurti or anyone else to brag to the international community about having an inclusive, multiethnic government.

"From this current government in Pristina, you could clearly see that having Rasic in that government is even worse than if an Albanian himself were in his place. What it means is that we have a political party that has full support from Belgrade, which understands what the interests of the people in Kosovo and Metohija are, which has serious people, professors, reputable citizens both north and south of Ibar, doctors, economists, lawyers, university professors, doctors of science, serious people who think most responsibly about their people, and whose interest in the people comes first and not personal," said Petkovic.

He adds that other political parties are a kind of cuckoo's egg meant to occupy space that naturally belongs to the Serb List, and proof of this is that the CIK challenged only the Serb List's right to participate in the elections.

"With the Serb List, there are no more Kurtis, Haradinajs, Thaçis, or those Serbs, but Serbs who are with their people, who are with the interests of their people and with their only state, Serbia," said Petkovic.

Asked if he has information on how the investigation into the attack on the Ibar-Lepenac canal is progressing, which the American FBI has also joined, Petkovic says that we still have no data from the investigation that would indicate who is responsible for the attack, who committed it, and who ordered it.

"I say this because a few hours after the diversion happened, you had a press conference by Albin Kurti who most directly, without any evidence, accused official Belgrade of being behind the attack. We reacted immediately and not just in the days after the attack, but all the time, from President Aleksandar Vucic, the prime minister, myself as the chief negotiator, I myself insisted in the dialogue that this issue be raised. We have nothing to hide. Thus, this is not something we want to sweep under the rug because such things most directly harm the interests of the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija," he said.

According to him, Pristina immediately accused Belgrade, continued with a campaign of attacks and propaganda aimed at discrediting Serbia in international circles, to prevent the opening of cluster three, to stop Serbia's European path, and, on the other hand, for Pristina to present itself as a victim, hoping the EU would lift sanctions on Pristina.

"And now we come to the motive of who actually had an interest in such an attack happening. First, let me explain. Such a diversion damages the citizens of Serbia, the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija. Why did we build a regional water supply? So that everyone would have water in the north of Kosovo and Metohija. Why did we fight for two years in Brussels for an energy agreement? Because so that the Serbs in the north of Kosovo and Metohija would have electricity. And why would official Belgrade participate in an attack to nullify everything we have built and funded all these years, so there is no interest of official Belgrade here. We do not conduct policy in this way," said Petkovic.

As he said, the fact that Pristina called KFOR nine minutes after the attack to allow the entry of the KSF into the north of Kosovo indicates that someone wanted to use this situation to sneakily introduce the KSF, which otherwise has no right to be present in the north.

"They wanted to use such a moment to try to round off their so-called independence and sovereignty with the presence of the KSF in the north of Kosovo and Metohija, which, of course, the KFOR commander refused. But when KFOR asked Pristina for a list of all those critical facilities that needed to be protected, because that was supposedly the reason Kurti formally requested the KSF to enter the north of Kosovo and Metohija. Do you know what happened with that list? Well, nothing. It was never even sent to KFOR, which means it's clear to you that the motives were both political and primarily oriented towards the election campaign," he assessed.

He explains that Kurti has no results to boast of in the field of economy, industry, or growth - there are no increased wages, pensions, or minimum wages as there are in central Serbia.

"There are no new jobs, factories, or foreign direct investments in Pristina as there are in central Serbia. What will Kurti then present to his voters? By continuing to occupy the north of Kosovo and Metohija, because obviously, that has given results in terms of increasing support from Albanian voters towards Self-Determination in the previous period, and he has continued to do that. So, I expect that until the elections, the regime in Pristina will continue to attack the Serbian people, especially in the north, to deal with Serbian institutions," said Petkovic.

He also condemned the international community for remaining silent on all this and allowing Pristina to close Serbian institutions.

"Look, they call such facilities parallel institutions. And everyone is silent about it, although these are legal and legitimate institutions of the Republic of Serbia in our southern province as our Constitution mandates. And nothing more than that. Although the EU says that Pristina has no right to deal with Serbian institutions in this way, because Serbian institutions must remain there until the issue is resolved in dialogue, as part of resolving the issue of forming the CSM where exactly all these Serbian institutions where a large number of our citizens work would become the base and architecture for forming the CSM," he said.

He emphasizes that Belgrade will not be silent, will never stop speaking the truth, and will seek in dialogue, but also in all other places, to stop, as he said, the unlawful extinguishing of Serbian institutions, which most directly calls into question and the survival of Serbs.

Petkovic wished the Serbs in Kosovo all the best for the upcoming Christmas and New Year holidays and said that this is a time when, despite all the challenges we face, we need to stay together, united in the idea of preserving freedom and what we have built over these years - unity and trust, that the state of Serbia is with its people, that it will never leave them in the lurch.

"In that sense, I would like to wish all our people, to be in the warmth of their homes, gathered in family joy, peace, and prosperity, expecting and hoping for a better year 2025," concluded Petkovic.