Vucevic: We preserve peace and protect Serbs in Kosovo, but we are far from resolving status issues

Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic stated tonight that he expects increased pressure on Belgrade regarding Kosovo, but that Serbia is maintaining peace and protecting the Serbian people. He emphasized that resolving status issues is far from achievable, as a solution where Albanians get everything and Serbs nothing is absolutely impossible under the current circumstances.

"What Kurti is doing is a game with the nerves of a larger nation and a bigger state. What he is doing is unsustainable in the long run, and historically it has been proven that it does not pay off, it is unserious and irresponsible. He is acting tactically to gain something, but strategically he will achieve nothing," Vucevic told Euronews Serbia.

He said he expects significant pressure on Belgrade, but not on Pristina, noting that the international community is not exerting pressure on Pristina beyond declarative messages and tweets calling for greater engagement and restraint from both sides.

"They have 10 formulations, these are bureaucratic statements… And I cannot be part of such thinking. Kurti has not been punished, and it insults my common sense when they say he has. I cannot accept that the Quint cannot influence him," Vucevic said.

He added that Serbs in Kosovo are subjected to terror, arrests, the dinar has been abolished, medical imports have been banned, and tomorrow marks a year since the import of goods from central Serbia was prohibited.

"We are preserving peace and our people in Kosovo and Metohija in a way that does not endanger the entire Serbia. We must increase political pressure on the international community, be more active in the dialogue process, point out what Pristina is doing, but also not be disappointed, discouraged, or offended, nor become autistic due to the lack of a stronger response from the international community," Vucevic said.

Regarding statements by the U.S. ambassadors in Pristina and Belgrade—Hovenier's that the dialogue must end with recognition and Hill's that this is not demanded from Serbia—Vucevic said that Hill is a serious diplomat and politician because no one in Serbia will sign the recognition of Kosovo.

According to him, the previous approach to the dialogue has been wrong, as it is the responsibility of all actors to seek a comprehensive solution. He believes that the focus should not be on recognition but on resolving small, concrete issues on the ground that make life easier for people.

"We are far from resolving status issues. It is not possible under the current circumstances. Solutions where the Albanian side gets everything and the Serbian side gets nothing are absolutely impossible," Vucevic said clearly.

He pointed out that Serbia should keep repeating that it is always ready for dialogue because anything else leads to a dead end, considering the geopolitical circumstances and the situation on the ground, reminding that KFOR units are present in Kosovo and that Serbia is surrounded by NATO members.

"We need to economically strengthen Serbs, politically encourage them, provide every form of civic resistance allowed in democratic societies, even though so-called Kosovo is everything but a democratic society… We need to be wise, patient, and tactical and not show all our cards in advance. Expecting the Serbian side to reveal in advance what it will do depending on events is unserious and irresponsible. This is not done," Vucevic pointed out.

The Prime Minister also said that peace in the region is threatened, but this does not mean that the region is close to conflict, but that there are statements that cause unrest and bring anxiety.

"I fear that initiatives for revising Dayton are next, and without that agreement, there is no peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina"

Vucevic emphasized that the essence of the All-Serbian Assembly and the Declaration adopted at that gathering is unity and a political response, rational and responsible, to the current situation but also to all events that could follow in the coming period.

He pointed out that this is a very challenging political moment because there are great challenges, primarily for peace and stability in the region, as some circumstances, he warned, do not inspire optimism but bring concern.

"I am not saying we are heading towards conflict or war, but towards more complex relations—yes," the Prime Minister added.

He emphasized that, aside from all the already raised questions about the Srebrenica Resolution, the main question is what its purpose is, and that could, he noted, be future initiatives for revising the Dayton Agreement.

"With the question of non-compliance with internal procedures in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the need to adopt such a document 29 years after the crime, and what it has brought—it has brought more difficult and complex relations and has not improved the relations between Serbs, Bosniaks, and Croats. Bosnia and Herzegovina today is not a more functional state, relations in the region are not better. What is the purpose, then? Unless it is what I fear could happen in the fall or entering 2025—the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica crime and the adoption of the Dayton Agreement—and that is that we will hear a barrage of initiatives calling for the Dayton Agreement to be changed and revised," Vucevic said.

Therefore, he says, the Assembly and the Declaration are a call to the Serbian people to be collected and to understand the historical geopolitical circumstances, to preserve peace, but not to lose freedom.

He adds that he was not surprised by the reactions to the holding of the Assembly; in fact, he thought they would be louder.

He is unpleasantly surprised by the argumentation of the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo in their reaction because there is a fundamental lack of understanding of legal terminology regarding property belonging to entities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Vucevic stated that without the Dayton Agreement, there is no peace because that document has kept the peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina for 29 years.

"And now, some arsonists are playing with fire again. They, hinting that the Balkans are a 'powder keg,' have filled their pockets with matches, firecrackers, and they would like to set everything on fire again," noted the Prime Minister of Serbia.

Instead of moving forward, building roads, and people understanding, there is talk about "whose tear is heavier, and whose sigh is louder."

Vucevic mentioned that many powers have been taken away from the Republic of Srpska.

"And you know what will remain when they take away its property - an empty shell. And I fear that is the goal of some, to turn RS into a non-governmental organization, and they see that as a model for the CSM," he pointed out.

Vucevic also said that the Declaration adopted at the All-Serbian Assembly is the backbone of joint action by Serbia and the Republic of Srpska in the coming period.

In response to accusations against Belgrade of wanting a "Greater Serbia," he says that there is no "Greater Serbia."

He emphasized that Serbs have been ethnically cleansed from the areas where they lived in the region, "expelled, driven out, with the greatest sacrifices," and the term "Greater Serbia" is constantly mentioned, and Serbs are labeled as hegemonists.

"And those who want to take away part of our territory from us... We should understand that and realize that it is good for us because that problem no longer exists... This is being imposed on the public in Serbia in a perfidious, subtle way," Vucevic stated.