Starovic: It is time for the harsh rhetoric of the EU and the US to be accompanied by punitive measures

The situation with the dinar in Kosovo is very complicated and serious, and it requires an urgent response from the international community, State Secretary at the Ministry of Defense of Serbia Nemanja Starovic said, emphasizing that this was necessary to happen in the coming days, as reported by RTS.

"We see harsh rhetoric from the EU, especially from the US, but it is high time for that rhetoric to be accompanied by concrete punitive measures and the finding of ad hoc mechanisms to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe and enable the distribution of salaries. I mean, primarily, of course, the European Union, but also the US. It is perfectly clear to everyone today that this is yet another in a series of unilateral measures. In this specific case, it seems to me the most serious in terms of the consequences it causes since 1999 and 2004," Starovic said.

He assessed that the measures had a dual purpose – to prevent normal life for the entire Serbian community and to shut down all institutions that were important for normal everyday life and should form the basis of the Community of Serb Municipalities that should be formed.

"It is high time for a reaction because we are not talking about months or weeks anymore, but literally about days ahead of us, in order for this to be stopped and to enable the payment of those necessary entitlements, necessary for the mere, if you will, biological survival of our compatriots," Starovic said.

He added that there was no longer any reliance on any political will from Pristina and that they had resorted to the pattern of implementing unilateral measures, but that Belgrade expected measures from the international community.

Starovic also stated that he did not believe the solution to that problem would be found in the dialogue process between Belgrade and Pristina.

"I truly believe that unilateral measures must be responded to with unilateral measures. I am not talking about unilateral measures from Serbia, because we, the Republic of Serbia, do not have such mechanisms of influence on the ground, but the EU and the US certainly do. We must properly understand what is actually happening. These measures, attempts to ban the circulation, use of the Serbian currency in Kosovo and Metohija are made outside any existing legal framework," Starovic emphasized.

He pointed out that they were in direct contradiction with the principles of the Ahtisaari Plan that Pristina unilaterally applies, as well as the Brussels and Ohrid Agreements.

"We see, at least at the level of very harsh rhetoric from the EU, especially from the US, that there are serious condemnations of these measures. But, I repeat, it is high time for this harsh rhetoric to be accompanied by concrete punitive measures, on the one hand, and then finding some realistic ad hoc mechanisms to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe and enable the distribution of salaries, social assistance, and everything else," Nemanja Starovic emphasized.

He also commented on KFOR's role, stating that this mission must not be passive.

"I personally believe that there is always, ultimately, the KFOR mission on the ground in Kosovo, that their competencies are clear, that they cannot stand by passively and watch a humanitarian catastrophe unfold before their eyes, and ultimately, they can be the ones to ensure the distribution of the dinar currency and the operation of the Post Office and Postal Savings Bank," Starovic said.

Regarding Lajcak's invitation to Brussels on February 27, Starovic said that holding that meeting was highly questionable and that the Deputy Prime Minister of the Kosovo government, Besnik Bislimi, did not want to discuss the dinar issue at all.

"Of course, we will try to take advantage of that opportunity to appeal to European mediators, to the international community as a whole to urgently, I repeat, talk about days, not weeks and months, to find certain practical solutions, but as I told them a few minutes ago, I am personally very skeptical that a solution to this very serious problem can be found in the Brussels dialogue format because it did not arise from the dialogue process," Starovic said.