A rally of support was held in Gracanica: We stand with our brothers and sisters from the north

Residents of Gracanica and surrounding towns gathered today on the plateau in front of the Municipality of Gracanica and thus sent support to the Serbs from the north of Kosovo.

A large number of the Serbs from central Kosovo sent a message that they stood with their brothers and sisters from the north, and sympathized with them in these difficult times.

Director of the National Library in Gracanica, Brankica Kostic, emphasized in her address that happiness could not be built on someone else's misfortune.

"We show at this peaceful gathering that happiness is not built on someone else's misfortune, neither personal nor collective. Peace is not bought by unrest. I express on this occasion collective empathy with all the people in the north of Kosovo, but also those in the south and central Kosovo and Metohija. Deeply shaken by the events that follow from day to day, we relive the hardships we experienced, every sleepless night, every icy threat, and I wonder where it will end," Kostic said.

She pointed out that Resolution 12 44 of the UN Security Council did not represent a valid stamp on Kosovo, and that she was sleepless almost every night.

"Today, the territory of Kosovo and Metohija should bear the valid seal of the Security Council and Resolution 1244, it is a valid deed of today's legal order, but everything looks different on the ground.

For more than a decade, bans on basic rights have been in place, medicines, food, and books, every coming and going on the roads is a reason for restlessness and a sleepless night. Any movement at night is a threat to experience a brutal search, as happened to our colleagues. There is no justification for this violence," Kostic added.

She stated that from the rally, those gathered wanted to send support to their colleagues from the north who had been prevented from working in normal conditions.

"From this rally for peace, with one voice we send support to our colleagues who have been thrown out of their workplaces, to people who are looking for only one thing, that their human rights and democratic principles, which they have been speaking so much about that they are worn out and have lost their meaning by using it like insignificant focuses," Kostic concluded.

In the end, she thanked all the mothers of Kosovo, from the north to the south.

The head of the Kosovo district, Srdjan Popovic, pointed out that the Serbs were a peaceful people, but that even after 24 years, things were happening that were not conducive to a better future.

"We have gathered here many times and each time we thought it was the last, and that the next gathering would be called for some reason that would be for the benefit of our people in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija. However, even today, unfortunately, things happen that are helping to build a better future in Kosovo. Nobody could have expected this development of the situation in the north of Kosovo. We Serbs are a peaceful people; we have always fought for peace. If this was not recognized by the Albanians until now, we were sure that eventually, the international community would recognize it," Popovic said.

He added that since the arrival of KFOR in 1999, not a single attack had been staged by the Serbs, which, he added, showed that the Serbs wanted a future in Kosovo and coexistence with their Albanian neighbors.

"The inadequate reactions of the international community's condemnation of more than 350 incidents that occurred in the past year were recognized as signals by the unconscious Albanian leaders that the Serbs should be constantly harassed and provoke incidents, and even shoot at them. The paradoxical thing is that the Serbs and Albanians aspire to the EU and that the EU has double standards. Sometimes we Serbs think that there is a special chapter for Albanians towards European integration, namely that the more they are against the Serbs, they will be rewarded. The last example is the granting of visa liberalization to Pristina, although they did not implement any of the obligations from the Brussels agreements," Popovic said.

As he pointed out, unfortunately, the conflicts in the north spilled over to other Serbian municipalities south of the Ibar.

"After every crime, we thought it was the last that the Albanian leaders would come to their senses and give priority to life. But even today we have the same rhetoric from Pristina. Shooting at children, attacks on the Serbs, unnecessary escalation in the north that spills over to all municipalities with a Serb majority, which resulted in the burning of the Serbian flag in Gracanica, sending us a clear message that we are not welcome," Popovic said.

Nobody could believe, added Popovic, that the situation after 24 years could be worse than before.

"Therefore, we Serbs from Gracanica are asking the international community and all relevant political actors whether we Serbs have the right to live in Kosovo and Metohija," Popovic asked.

Those gathered at the rally in Gracanica carried Serbian flags and banners with messages of support for the Serbs from the north and the arrested young men.