Petkovic: Work permits a new form of persecution of Serbs and a blow to the Dialogue, Kurti openly mocks the EU

Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Petar Petkovic stated that Pristina’s announcements of introducing work permits accompanied by mandatory residence registration at police stations represent a new wave of persecution and expulsion of Serbs, carried out under the direct orders of Albin Kurti.

“The new threats from Pristina—that Serbs who live, stay, and work in Kosovo and Metohija will soon be required to obtain so-called work permits and register their residence in police stations—are aimed at launching a new wave of persecution and expulsion of Serbs, under the direct instructions of Albin Kurti. In light of these announced escalatory moves, Belgrade will demand that the international community put an end to this lawlessness, which carries unforeseeable consequences. If the EU and the Quint fail to stop Kurti in his attempt to completely deprive the Serbian people of their rights, Belgrade will be compelled to consider an appropriate political and legal response to such a drastic violation of the fundamental rights of the Serbian people through Pristina’s new unilateral and violent measures,” Petkovic said.

He added that it is evident Kurti fears the outcome of the upcoming local elections on October 12, and the prospect of four northern municipalities returning to Serbian hands.

“That is why he is striving to adopt as many anti-Serb decisions as possible, seeking thereby to inflict further harm upon the Serbian people. This latest threat, made by Kurti’s police, has thus become part of the pre-election campaign in which Self Determination is trying to regain support among the Albanian electorate—at the expense of the Serbian people. At a moment when international partners are distancing themselves from Kurti, he resorts to increasingly radical unilateral steps, putting into question the agreements reached in Brussels,” the Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija emphasized.

Petkovic recalled that, under the 2010 UN General Assembly Resolution, the European Union was given the mandate to mediate in the normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina, with the aim of making the lives of ordinary people easier—not unbearable.

“Therefore, every decision of Pristina aimed at creating and maintaining intolerable living conditions, in order to coerce Serbs and other non-Albanians to abandon their centuries-old homes, constitutes a direct blow to the Dialogue process and is in direct contradiction with the 2010 UN General Assembly Resolution, as well as UN Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999). We will inform all international representatives of this in particular. Belgrade will demand their concrete—not merely verbal—reaction, because it is clear that Kurti is openly mocking the United Nations, the European Union, and all other international representatives who have warned him to stop the persecution of Serbs and other non-Albanians and return to Dialogue as the only mechanism for resolving all outstanding issues,” Petkovic concluded.