Petkovic: The ultimate goal of abolishing the dinar is the final expulsion of Serbs from Kosovo

Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, met today with the Director of the Continental Europe Department of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bris Rockfey, whom he informed about the endangerment of the Serbs in Kosovo, especially following the latest decisions of Pristina regarding the abolition of the dinar.

As announced by the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petkovic pointed out that the ban on the dinar in Kosovo also prohibited the payment of salaries, pensions, social benefits, and material costs of schools, hospitals, kindergartens, and other Serbian institutions in Kosovo.

He emphasized the necessity for the Serbs to be institutionally protected through the formation of the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities, which Pristina had persistently refused to form for 11 years.

According to Petkovic, unlike Belgrade, which had fulfilled all agreements arising from the Brussels Agreement, Pristina continuously attempted to permanently remove its biggest and most important obligation, the formation of the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities, from the agenda.

Petkovic stressed that Pristina's recent decision to abolish the use of the dinar and payment transactions was deliberate, and the ultimate goal of that decision was the final expulsion of Serbs from Kosovo, the abolition of Serbian institutions in Kosovo, and the termination of the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina.

The Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija emphasized that for the 100,000 Serbs living in Kosovo, Serbian payment transactions and payments were a matter of their physical survival because pensions, social benefits, and all other entitlements provided by the state of Serbia were paid through the Serbian bank.

In this regard, he noted that the intention of the Kosovo authorities to abolish the Postal Savings Bank, which had been operating in northern Kosovo since 2018, along with the abolition of the dinar, was particularly concerning.

Petkovic informed his interlocutor that the Postal Savings Bank, in order to enable the Serbs in Kosovo to receive money and other banking services, temporarily set up four mobile branches in the central part of Serbia, near the administrative crossings of Jarinje, Brnjak, Konculj, and Merdare.

He emphasized that Belgrade would continue to insist on finding a permanent and sustainable solution to this and all other problems, which would enable the survival of the Serbs in Kosovo, a survival that was constantly being called into question by the Pristina authorities.

"Recent acquittal of any guilt of a member of the so-called Kosovo Security Forces, who last year, on Christmas Eve, shot at Serbian children, demonstrates that there is no rule of law for the Serbs in the province," Petkovic said.

He added that since Albin Kurti had come to power, there had been 484 ethnically motivated attacks on members of the Serbs.

Petkovic also stated that blinded by hatred towards everything Serbian, Pristina did not even respect the decisions of its own court and refused to return the land taken from the Visoki Decani Monastery.

In conclusion, the Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija stated that despite all the trickery and dangerous, violent, and unilateral moves of Pristina, Belgrade remained committed to dialogue and expected that conditions for permanent stability and prosperity in Kosovo and the entire region would be created through compromise, as stated in the announcement.