Petkovic: Warrants and summonses for Serbs a new form of pressure by Kurti and a slap in the face to the international community

The Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, stated that the move by the authorities in Pristina to issue warrants for 11 Serbs, as well as summonses for questioning the leadership of Serb List over peaceful and non-violent protests in northern Kosovo during 2022, represents a new form of pressure on the Serbian people by Albin Kurti, and a slap in the face to the international community, which had guaranteed Serbs they would not be subject to retaliation for their legitimate fight for their rights.

Petkovic reminds that when the Serbs dismantled the peaceful barricades in December 2022, they did so solely on the basis of written guarantees received from the European Union and the US State Department – guarantees that, as he emphasized, have since been violated multiple times through unilateral and unlawful actions by Pristina, including arbitrary arrests of Serbs.

He notes that these guarantees clearly state that “there are no lists for arrest or prosecution of Serbian citizens from Kosovo for participating in peaceful protests/barricades.”

Petkovic emphasizes that the Office for Kosovo and Metohija will inform Peter Sorensen, the EU’s mediator in the Belgrade–Pristina dialogue, about this new wave of persecution of Serbs, which includes the issuing of warrants and summonses for questioning dozens of Serbs, and will demand an answer to the question: “Do the written guarantees of the EU carry any weight or significance at all, and why is the international community silently watching the issuance of warrants, arrests, and persecution of Serbs?”.

“The announced warrants and interrogations of Serb List leaders are based neither on law nor facts. They mark the beginning of Albin Kurti’s election campaign for the local elections in Kosovo and Metohija, and are part of a broader plan to ban the Serb List and intimidate all honorable Serbs who refuse to submit to Kurti’s blackmail and terror,” Petkovic said.

He adds that for years, Kurti has been issuing secret indictments against prominent Serbs, and has recently begun with the direct expulsion of Serbian police officers living in Kosovo and Metohija.

“In each of these cases, what they all have in common is that Pristina carries out these actions unilaterally, violating the basic rights of our people, while the international community remains silent,” Petkovic concluded.