Petkovic: Voters turnout for the elections in the north of Kosovo is 3.47 percent - only 13 Serbs

The director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, announced this evening that 1,566 Albanians and only 13 persons of Serbian nationality had taken part in the elections in four municipalities in the north of Kosovo.

"Albin Kurti, and all those who for months called for elections with the intention of occupying the north experienced a fiasco, and the real winner are the Serbs who completely boycotted these elections. This is also a defeat for that part of the international community that supported Kurti in organizing voting," Petkovic said at a press conference in the Government of Serbia.

He pointed out that, in the elections that were anti-democratic, held in containers, and guarded by the Kosovo police with rifles, they had tried in every way to force the Serbs to go to the polls and to occupy the entire north of Kosovo with that electoral process.

"And the turnout was only 3.47 percent," Petkovic emphasized.

He indicated that the total number of registered voters was 45,095, 1,000 more than in the previous elections.

He also stated that 449 fewer Albanians had voted in these elections than in the previous ones, which, he added, showed that they had also boycotted these elections.

"Without the Serbs, without Belgrade, it is impossible to normalize all relations, while respecting all previous agreements," Petkovic said.

Petkovic said that the Serbs had shown their unity by boycotting the elections and that there was no normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina without the formation of the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities, assessing that Albin Kurti, Vjosa Osmani, and others who called for today's elections had experienced a complete defeat, a fiasco and that the real winner of these elections were the Serbs in Kosovo.

Petkovic pointed out at the press conference that what the Serbs and political representatives of Serbs had been saying all along had come true, namely that the Serbs did not want to go to the elections in these conditions.

"A lot of things happened when it comes to the rejection of the formation of the CSM and the stopping of KM plates, and the illegal ROSU base, as well as arrests, shooting people, illegal expropriations...", Petkovic said, emphasizing that all this happened almost every day, and the international community looked the other way.

Pointing out that this was exactly what influenced today's result; Petkovic thanked the Serbs for remaining calm.

As he stated, there had been no incidents, and one could hear days before the election that there would certainly be because they had been talking from Pristina that the Serbs were criminal and violent.

"On the contrary, they stayed in their houses, although there was one wedding in Leposavic, so the Serbs clearly showed Kurti that the land they live on was Serbian and would remain so. Kurti wanted to force the Serbs to vote for the occupiers in the containers, but it turned out that the Serbs sent Kurti to the political container. It was also shown today that the more Pristina tries to enslave the Serbs, the stronger the desire of our people to fight for freedom," the director of the Government Office said.

He adds that all the Serbs had remained united and that they had stood by President Aleksandar Vucic and Serbia and had shown that they trusted them.

"All those who said that the one thing was the Serb List and the other were the Serbs have now turned out that they are in fact one. We supported their decision because we will not allow anyone to trample on the Serbs. There is no further way to normalize relations without first forming the CSM, which was additionally confirmed in these elections, not even a step further because that is what the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija are asking for," he emphasized.

Petkovic said that the representatives of the OSCE and the international community who had allowed this process to take place in empty containers should be especially ashamed, stating that the Serbs had shown that without them the elections had no meaning.

He points out that Kurti wanted to use the election process to expel all the Serbs, and that this was supported by some representatives of the international community while omitting to say that we have been waiting for the formation of the CSM for 10 years.

He notes that instead of the CSM, Kurti was rewarded with visa liberalization, support for elections, and the process of starting membership in the Council of Europe.

He said that without the Serbs, the Serbian people, without Belgrade, the normalization of relations was impossible and that it had to be exclusively in accordance with previous agreements.

"We are not looking for anything that is not signed," he said.

Petkovic also pointed out that out of 19 polling stations, there were also those where no one had voted, such as three in Zubin Potok, two in Zvecan, and one in Leposavic.

A message of unity, harmony, and a clear attitude of the Serbs from Kosovo was sent

When asked what kind of message had been sent today, ahead of the continuation of the dialogue at the highest level, on May 2 in Brussels, Petkovic replied that a message of unity, harmony, and a clear position had been sent - that the Serbs in the north of Kosovo trusted only President Aleksandar Vucic, who would, he said, if he went to Brussels on May 2, like every time, he would show that he defended the Serbs, peace, and stability with all his power.

"The normalization of relations is important to us, but without the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities we will not be able to move forward, not because we don't want it, but because it is a principle, I guess, of the European Union, which is the guarantor of the implementation of all agreements, and which has done nothing," Petkovic said.

He added that specific steps should be discussed in Brussels, that the Management Team should present the draft of the statute that had been prepared, which had been sent to the European Union in 2019, and which was awaiting an invitation to present the results of its work.

"Five years have passed, and the EU did not remember to respond to that email," Petkovic pointed out and expressed the hope that in the next round of dialogue, it would be the main topic.