Vucic: I sent Rutte a rational and well-intentioned letter, expect a response in the coming days

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said this evening that he had sent NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte a rational, reasonable, and well-intentioned letter, seeking to have NATO, through KFOR and in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1244—the basis and foundation for the Mission's deployment—take appropriate measures to protect the Serbian population.

"I expect a response in the coming days, and I believe that Secretary General Mark Rutte will respond to me in one way or another," Vucic told RTS.

He reiterated that he had a very good relationship with Rutte based on mutual respect, which did not mean that they always had to agree on everything. He recalled that they had held very good talks a month ago in Paris, when, during Bastille Day celebrations, they had even been seated next to one another and had therefore been able to spend the entire evening discussing important issues, primarily regional matters.

"I believe that Rutte wants, both on behalf of NATO and personally, to ensure security for all people in the Balkans. Accordingly, I sought and demanded greater rights for Serbs and respect for what was signed in Brussels in 2013. There has been no response to that. These are all tricks and attempts to evade reality, because if the Community of Serb-Majority Municipalities had been established and what was agreed had been respected, we would not have these problems today. Someone has to provide an answer to that," Vucic said.

He noted that the Ibar Bridge had always been part of the Dialogue, but that there was now an attempt to "remove" it from the Dialogue.

"Because some countries belonging to the so-called Western alliance are becoming panicked and nervous because Kosovo's self-proclaimed independence has now come of age, yet they still have a problem with the majority of countries in the world that do not recognize that independence, and they have a particular problem with Serbia, which does not want to recognize it," President Vucic explained.

For that reason, he said, he had sent Rutte a rational, reasonable, and well-intentioned letter, seeking to have NATO, through KFOR and in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1244, which constituted the basis and foundation for the Mission's deployment, take appropriate measures to protect the Serbian population.

"I cited examples. I spoke about 800 ethnically motivated attacks over the past five years and about 257 Serbs who have been arrested. They cannot find a genuine reason for even 20 of those arrests, let alone all 257. For the most part, they have been tortured, terrorized, and mistreated, all in violation of every law," Vucic said.

He added that, in the case of the beating of Nenad Raskovic, all Pristina media outlets had initially reported that it had been a dispute over a gambling debt, but that "when they were backed into a corner," they had been forced to admit what had happened and were now "supposedly conducting disciplinary proceedings."

"It is incredible that anyone thinks they can force a sovereign country such as Serbia to renounce part of its territory in this manner, contrary to the Constitution of Serbia. We will continue to act in accordance with the Constitution, the UN Charter, and Resolution 1244. I also think it was important to make use, to some extent, of my personal credibility and my correct and good relationship with Rutte in this way. Even if I achieve nothing, at least I will have alerted him to the position of the Serbs and what is being done to them," Vucic said.

He added that Rutte was an intelligent man who received all manner of reports on a daily basis.

"But he also likes to hear and listen. He was smart enough not to enter into a confrontation with Trump when everyone was pushing him to do so, and the same applies to certain other matters. I believe he will act rationally on this issue as well," the Serbian President stressed.

Parliamentary elections in Serbia on October 18 or 25

Vucic announced that parliamentary elections in Serbia would be held on October 18 or October 25.

He added that the exact date would be known in the coming days.