Rakic at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly: We seek fulfillment of the Brussels Agreement

National MP Goran Rakic, during the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Sofia as a member of the Serbian parliamentary delegation, emphasized that the Serbs from Kosovo are demanding the fulfillment of the obligations from the 2013 Brussels Agreement, as nothing from this document has been implemented on the ground.

Rakic addressed the delegates on the topic of the Western Balkans - renewed security challenges, saying, "I want to inform you that I come from Kosovo and Metohija, the southern Serbian province. As you know, 109 countries have not recognized so-called Kosovo, including four NATO member countries. What we seek and need is the fulfillment of the obligations from the Brussels Agreement achieved in 2013. Therefore, nothing from this agreement has been fulfilled by Pristina. I would like to begin by thanking the KFOR soldiers who are active on the ground and are responsible for security under Resolution 1244; they are the only armed force that can operate in the Kosovo and Metohija area. These are precisely KFOR units, not the so-called Kosovo Security Forces."

He briefly described the problems that Serbs encounter in Kosovo.

"Our right to healthcare is being revoked, our payment transactions are terminated, and the import of food is banned. It is paradoxical that during the COVID-19 pandemic, we Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija were perhaps the only people or community in the world that was forbidden from receiving vaccines. If the Brussels Agreement, which was reached in 2013, is not fulfilled, it not only undermines the dialogue and continuation of discussions between Belgrade and Pristina but also undermines the authority of the European Union and this assembly we are in today," he highlighted.

He stresses that the key issue is to provide some security for the Serbs. "We often ask to have some powers; what does that mean? It means that we have some powers in the field of healthcare, which means we can choose, like other nations in Kosovo, who will treat our children. We seek some powers in the field of education, which means on the ground that our children can enroll in any school they want. We ask for the authority in the field of rural planning of our municipalities. That we can manage our municipalities at our Assembly upon the request of the citizens," concluded Rakic.

Furthermore, this session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly also has on its agenda the admission of Kosovo as an associate member. A vote on this matter is expected during the next week.