Vucic: If it weren't for Banjska, someone would have come up with something else to persecute Serbia

President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, assessed last night that if it hadn’t been for the events from a week ago in Banjska, someone would have come up with something else - just to persecute Serbia, and emphasized that with the arrival of Albin Kurti, the terror against the Serbs had begun, which was being carried out in a detailed and systematic manner. He warned that if Kurti continued to carry out terror, it would lead to Serbs packing their belongings, even though they were determined to stay in their homeland, and they would leave by trucks.

Vucic, speaking on TV Happy, said that as right as Serbia might have been, some had tried to countermeasure and take Kurti's side.

"I think the most important thing is to understand the roots of the problem. The root of the problem is in the Kurti regime, but it is also my fault, which I would do again. And it's twofold. The root of the problem of what happened a week ago is what happened a year ago. Two years ago, when Albin Kurti came to power, real terror against the Serbs began. They are dedicated to terror against the Serbs," he explained, adding that Pristina was conducting terror against the Serbs in a detailed and systematic manner.

He said that Germany knew very well, but they pretended not to, waiting for Kosovo to be left without the Serbs because their Embassy in Pristina had data that 12 percent of the Serbs had left since Kurti had come to power.

He reminded that in September, the first barricades had started because of license plates and documents, and then the removal of the regional police commander, Nenad Djuric, had begun, which, as he added, Kurti had done from Berlin, as if someone had whispered it to him.

"Then the chaos begins. The Serbs set up barricades. At the barricades, we received a report from KFOR, saying there were explosive devices connecting trucks so that heavy vehicles could not be pulled away. That's how a police officer came across that explosive device, and he didn't die in crossfire, which their autopsy report confirmed," he added.

He pointed out that this is how it went, the Serbs were rising, and it was a peaceful uprising of the Serbs.

Vucic conveyed that there had been increasing pressure from NATO, which announced that KFOR would allow the Kosovo Police to remove the barricades in their presence.

"We have tough talks with everyone, and we come up with a paper accepted by the EU and the USA. It was a draft in which it said that they would release all people who were at the barricades and that they would not arrest or persecute them. Then we go to Raska to talk to the Serbs. We talked for three evenings. On the third evening, the Serbs from Kosovo spoke publicly about everything they thought.

To my regret, and to the entire nation, everything they said was true. But I believed that removing the barricades was the only option, and I received guarantees from the world's great powers," he explained.

He said that he was to blame for believing that they would fulfill what they had written and that they would not put the Serbs in a position to fight in this way, and if he had not done so, he would have put Serbia in an extremely difficult position.

"If it weren't for this, someone would have come up with something else to persecute Serbia. They are pressuring to find someone in Serbia who would say, 'Independent Kosovo is fine, just don't talk about measures,'" Vucic emphasized.

He emphasized that, no matter how right and compromise-oriented Serbia had been, some, especially from Europe, had tried to counteract and support Kurti's side.

Regarding sanctions against Pristina, Vucic said that they were almost nothing compared to what had been imposed on Serbia in the 1990s.

"It's political pressure, I wouldn't say that citizens in Pristina suffer because of such things, even Kurti himself," he added.

Vucic, referring to the CNN interview, said that logically, first and foremost, it did not suit Serbia what had happened a week ago.

No one is asking where the Kosovo Police got rifles made in Serbia...

Regarding allegations that a group of the Serbs in Banjska had weapons produced in Serbia, Vucic showed photos that prove that the Kosovo Police also have weapons made in Serbia.

In the picture, among other things, you can see an M70 rifle, with which, as he says, the Kosovo Police persecuted the Serbs, and it is produced in Kragujevac.

"All of those are our rifles, with the special units of the Kosovo Police. Our rifle, and we didn't sell it to them. And no one asks where they got 20 times more rifles of Serbian production...," Vucic noticed, even though, as he says, in the modern world, it's actually a "stupid question".

He also called all the claims of Pristina politicians who draw parallels with Donbas and Crimea nonsense.

"They say that to curry favor with someone, and they talk such nonsense that it's unbelievable. Well, we are not the ones tearing apart a part of our or your country's territory, but we are the ones from whom you are seceding a part of our country with the help of those who do not respect international legal norms. They've turned everything around," Vucic said.

He reminds that he talked about this in front of the UN General Assembly - when a great power has an interest, then they call it a principle, and when they need something different, it becomes a principle, but in fact, principles and norms don't exist.

He reiterated that Milan Radoicic had not participated in military exercises and that the state had been calling up reservists since 2019, but there had been such a small response from Kosovo...

Regarding the West's demand for the Serbian Army to withdraw from the administrative boundary with Kosovo, Vucic noted that it wasn't the number of Serbian army units that had concerned them so much but that some sophisticated types of weapons had ended up there.

"We didn't bring the usual things, tanks, armored vehicles... But something more sophisticated, because the Serbian Army has been seriously strengthened," Vucic added.

He said that his attempt to convince them had not been because he was afraid or because someone had the right to meddle in it, but because he believed that additional tension was unnecessary.

"We have enough strength to achieve the administrative line and vital interests," Vucic said.

He also notes that it is possible that everyone believes that Serbia intended to enter and conquer northern Kosovo in a synchronized manner:

"Our first response is not at all about northern Kosovo. They explain how we had plans with 30 people... But I hope that despite all the problems and hardships, which we will endure for a month or two, we will withstand it," Vucic said.

If Kurti continues with terror – the Serbs will pack their things

He says he often repeated and pointed out that there could be an escalation and conflict because the Serbs cannot tolerate terror.

"The funniest thing is when they say I threatened because I knew what was happening, of course, I knew, I didn't know it would be in this form, but of course, I knew. You thought it was possible for them to endure all that and do nothing. This is the worst form in which it could explode against us," Vucic said.

As he warns, if Kurti continues to terrorize the Serbs, it will lead to Serbs packing their belongings, even though they are determined to stay in their homeland, and they will leave by trucks.

"This is something that no one in the world can watch and allow. Kurti's terror is something that exceeds everything a normal person can imagine. We have been without goods for 122 days, there is no oxygen in hospitals, and we are managing in various ways. They arrest people who try to transport an oxygen bottle by alternative means and say it's because you tried. But when they tried, no one was punished, no one was punished for the killings in 2004 or for anything else," he stated.

When it comes to the conflict in Banjska, Vucic says that his knowledge, based on reports from our agencies, indicates that the police received orders to remove the barricade, and in doing so, they encountered explosives.

"That set off the explosives, one was wounded, another was killed, and a third opened fire. They were given a 'carte blanche' to hunt people as if they were not human, and that's why the way the Serbs were killed is important. We will criminally prosecute those responsible for the murder of the Albanian police officer, who, after all, is our citizen," the President said.

He mentioned that what hurt him the most was the suffering of the Serbs in Kosovo and in that regard, he shared how he had watched a five-minute documentary about Orahovac in which a mother spoke about how they had tortured her 16-year-old son and where she heard his last words - "just leave my mother alone."

"Superficiality prevails in world politics; no one wants to delve into it, they found a lot of weapons, and there are many more Serbian-made weapons in the Kosovo Police. We must fight even stronger and harder for our people," Vucic said.

It is of paramount importance to demonstrate unity regarding Kosovo

Vucic emphasized that it was of utmost importance to show unity regarding the situation in Kosovo.

"We must be responsible to ourselves and to everyone else, to protect our people, build our country, and see how we can move forward. We must know that we can't trust anything and anyone, but we also have to be a part of the world," Vucic stated.

He reiterated that it was his fault for believing in the promises of the international community, but he had had no other choice.

Now, as he points out, everyone has realized that Kurti is arresting the Serbs according to a list, and this was also pointed out by the US Special Envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, who recently drew attention to this fact.

Vucic believes that it cannot be tolerated for the Serbs to be arrested without charges and any guilt, while a man (Albanian) who shoots at children on Christmas Eve only gets a house detention.

"I have said a million times that you cannot judge and arrest people without charges, you cannot shoot at Dragisa Galjak, Jovanovic, Miljevic, and all the others without any charges against those who did it," Vucic noted.

He believes that the goal of Pristina's actions was to force Serbia to accept the independence of Kosovo, while the Albanians, on the other hand, do not accept any of their obligations.

Regarding the formation of the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities, Vucic reminded of Annalena Baerbock's words that there was no one in Pristina from either the Government or the opposition who would accept the CSM, and he emphasized that no one had condemned Pristina for this.

"No one will accept the CSM, and they don't care at all. Instead of condemning them, they have never condemned them for it; it's always Serbia's fault," he said.

He emphasizes that despite everything, Serbia cannot leave its people in Kosovo without protection.

According to her, they are being helped financially and politically, but unfortunately, there is no security.

Vucic says that the tragic events in Banjska were a heavy blow to all Serbs, and he is aware of how many people across the country cried for the lost lives and the injustice regarding the autopsies of the deceased.

He reminded that the wife of one of the young men who died in Banjska had allowed her husband's picture to be published in the media because she had wanted it to be seen that he had been killed from close range.

He stated that he would speak loudly about all the problems of the Serbs in Spain.

He believes that Serbia has always faced a double standard when it comes to Serbia and some other countries in the region.

"For us, there is no justice, and special rules apply to us. As long as someone does not recognize independent Kosovo and until there is a complete turnaround in the world," he concluded.

He also commented on the idea of Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama to increase KFOR's presence in the north of Kosovo and stressed that "anyone who is sane would have such an idea".

As he says, the opponent of the Serbs is not KFOR but Kurti's regime.

"We must start working on ourselves and try to raise the people in Kosovo and Metohija, see if we can talk about their economic problems, see if we can ask for a greater KFOR presence," Vucic said.

He added that he had not talked to Blinken about strengthening KFOR because the conversation had been short and immediately after the tragedy in Banjska, but he had discussed it with other people.

Vucic pointed out that there was a shameless campaign of lies against him in Germany.

"I am used to it because I do not want to be someone's puppet. Shameless lies, you can clearly see whose protege Kurti is," he said.

He emphasized that he expected Serbia to be the main topic at the Granada Conference and announced that he would fight there.

"I will speak the truth about these events there," Vucic announced.

He stated that it was funny when they said that he stood behind it, and he added that they attacked him because he refused to participate in the witch hunt against the Serbs who had not done it because they were "evil and terrorists," but because they were at their wit's end.

"I have been following this for a year now. Those of us who live well in central Serbia do not know what these people are going through. One evening, we want to scream patriotic messages. If we were asked to give up a part of our salary and pensions, half would give up, and if we had to spend a few days in trenches in the rain, even more would give up. And these people live there every day and know how difficult it is for them," he explained.

When asked if there were more factors behind the events in Banjska, he said he didn't know and that he had no information about a Russian factor, and that mentioning the Wagner Group was utterly meaningless.

He said that for years they had lied that Milan Radoicic had killed Oliver Ivanovic.

"He is not an academic or a painter but a man of the people. He knew that they would take his property in Kosovo. He showed that this wealth means nothing to him if his family and his people do not have freedom," he added.

Vucic said that he would never be able to accept that a policeman had been killed, but he could not deny the motives of those people who felt bad and rebelled.

He said that the cold-blooded murder of a Serb in northern Kosovo had probably been ordered by Kurti along with Xhelal Svecla.

"Now we will see about this cold-blooded murder, which was probably ordered by Kurti along with Svecla, and we will see who will ask for whose extradition," Vucic said.

When asked about the opposition in Belgrade making political capital out of Banjska and considering him the sole culprit, Vucic said there was no difference between what Dragan Djilas, Zdravko Ponos, Miki Aleksic, Serbian Party Oathkeepers, Democratic Party of Serbia, or Dveri say...

"Because they think you don’t need to have a policy. And that's why they are unsuccessful. They think the only policy can be - 'I hate Vucic.' That's not politics. That's why elections are important, and it's important to try to put forward some kind of common denominator on major issues, to build the country," President Vucic said.

In that sense, he noted that there was no Albanian opposition politician who had accused Kurti of Banjska, who asked how the Serbs had been killed, whether Nedeljkovic had to be killed...

"Everyone agrees that there should be more killed. Walker says that KFOR is to blame because some of them ran away, and they all should have been killed," he stated.

He also pointed out that, unlike previous governments, he was fighting for the withdrawal of recognition, for a solution.

"But those who haven't done anything say - now we would enter with the army... Would you really do that? Just like that? And then what would we do? Why are you lying to the people that you will do that," Vucic asked.

When asked if there would be elections on December 17, he replied "that everything is heading in that direction."

He added that on October 15, he would travel to China, where more than 30 bilateral agreements would be signed, and expressed his belief that a free trade agreement with China would be finalized then, which would be a significant achievement for Serbia.

He stated that he would talk with Chinese President Xi Jinping, and when asked if he would meet with Vladimir Putin, he replied: "I don't have confirmation, and I haven't been in contact".

He repeated that he felt guilt and responsibility for the situation in Kosovo because he had believed in "someone's words".

"Somebody lied to the people that they would be protected and not persecuted and arrested. I lied to them because I believed in someone's words. They lied to me, and they guaranteed me, and I lied to the people. I would do the same again, not to lie to them, but you have to listen to someone, believe someone, and talk to someone. We can't be alone in the world," Vucic emphasized.

He said that he was aware that he had to maintain composure and sobriety and that the Serbs were desperate.

The essence, he says, is that there is no turning back, that he must raise his head and endure the pressure to uplift his people.

However, he also added that he was proud of his people - "Serbia has borne this with dignity".

"The Serbs have not lost their pride, the Serbs walk with their head held high," Vucic said.

He believes that as a nation, we have shown unity and solidarity with the families of the victims.