Starovic: Kurti is not ready to fulfill the condition for the dialogue progress, which is the CSM formation

State Secretary in the Ministry of Defense Nemanja Starovic does not expect that the key obstacle to any progress in the dialogue will be removed since Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti does not want to form the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities and says that thanks to predictable policy, Serbia managed to oppose the attempt for a narrative that it is an extended arm of Russia to be imposed on it.

Starovic said for RTS that now the ball is in Kurti's court and that Serbia must remain consistent and persevere in its demands for the CSM formation.

"Bearing in mind the current situation, I am afraid that the key obstacle, finally supported by the international community, which concerns the necessity of forming the CSM as a condition for any progress in the dialogue, will not be removed, Kurti is not ready for that," he stressed.

Starovic reminded that Kurti had based his entire political career on denying any presence of the Serbian people in Kosovo, and he had especially been against the CSM formation.

"What we have witnessed in the last year is that Kurti experienced a major geopolitical crisis as a great chance to present himself as a little Zelensky and try to get more support from the West, and for that, he has to present Serbia as an extended arm of the Kremlin. He is not the only one who does it, Zagreb does it too. But fortunately, such narratives did not bear fruit because we showed a serious and responsible approach, because we led a predictable policy", Starovic emphasized.

The ultimate interest of Serbia is to preserve peace and stability in our region, he emphasized.

Starovic said that Serbia had opted for the path of neutrality and the policy of independence.

"It is a determination that brings great challenges with it, but in the long term, it is the only path that gives real results. Regardless of the fact that we will be exposed to criticism and pressure from international partners, following such a path earns respect in their eyes. That independent policy is predictable, and predictability in international relations is a special quality," Starovic explained.

He pointed out that many had tried to accuse Serbia of attacking someone in the region at the Kremlin's expense, but Serbia had shown that its policy was predictable.

"We see what is happening in the world and that we can only expect additional escalation, and in such circumstances, we must make additional efforts to preserve stability in the region. We lost so many lives in the 20th century that we need decades and a century of peace to be able to accept the joining to economic development," Starovic emphasized.