Popovic: The announcement of the arrest of Serbs is aimed at intimidating the Serbian people

The Minister of Justice in the Government of Serbia, Maja Popovic, assessed that the announcement of the arrest of Serbian leaders by the Pristina authorities was aimed at intimidating the Serbian people. She added that Serbia strongly stood by its people in Kosovo.

"Representatives of the Kosovo authorities continue to provoke the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, trying to declare the Serbian leaders there criminals, putting them on the "arrest list", Popovic said.

She added that the announcement of the arrest of Serbian leaders was aimed at trying to destabilize the north of Kosovo and intimidate the Serbian people, who were receiving a shameful message that if they continued to fight for their rights from the Brussels Agreement, they too would be the target of persecution.

"It is particularly worrisome that the Pristina terrorists call the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts right-wing extremist organizations, which are connected to the Russian Federation," he adds.

She pointed out that it was unacceptable that President Aleksandar Vucic, his son Danilo, brother Andrej, as well as the Minister of Interior Affairs Bratislav Gasic and the director of the Security and Information Agency Aleksandar Vulin were on the "arrest list" only because they were fighting for the interests of Serbian people.

"The Republic of Serbia strongly and decisively stands by our people in Kosovo and I am sure that the patience and political wisdom of President Vucic and the Government of the Republic of Serbia will influence the representatives of the international community to reconsider their attitude towards the politics of Albin Kurti and his political puppets. I expect that the international community will support and speed up the formation of the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities by putting pressure on the Pristina authorities," Minister Popović's statement reads.