Serbian President Vucic: We will do everything possible to keep the peace

Serbian President Vucic made a statement to Serbian Radio and Television after the meeting with the Serbian National Security Council in Belgrade.

Noting that the situation in northern Kosovo is “quite difficult,” Vucic said: “There is a nation’s struggle to survive on the ground. The goal is to resolve the ‘Serb problem’ in northern Kosovo, and Pristina and Parts of the international community are also participating in this. The Kosovo police have no right to be in the north,” he said.

“It is important to ask the Albanians and Serbs to keep the peace,” Vucic said. I urge Serbs to remain calm and not resort to provocations. (European Union Rule of Law Mission) EULEX and (NATO Peacekeeping Force in Kosovo) should not have attacks against KFOR.” he said he.

“OUR MISSION IS TO CALL FOR PEACE”

Noting that today has been the “most difficult day” for him since he took office, Vucic said: “Probably the most difficult night is yet to come, our duty is to call for peace.” he used the phrase.

Vucic continued:

“It is a difficult night for the Serbs in Kosovo, it is my duty to be with them. We have received assurances from KFOR and from Europe that they will not use violence against the protesters and we will continue to negotiate with them. We have taken the necessary measures to protect our homeland. I gave the most important orders and the National Security Council accepted them. I am proud of our police and soldiers. We will do our best to keep the peace before issuing orders to increase preparation for war.”

Referring to the barricades set up in northern Kosovo, Vucic said: “No Albanian movement is restricted. None of the Albanians go through those roads. This is the expression of his protest against the arrests, the violence, the ill-treatment and the breach of the Brussels Agreement”. he performed the assessment of it.

TENSION INCREASES IN KOSOVO-SERBIA

The two countries clashed again ahead of early general elections scheduled for December 18 in 4 municipalities in northern Kosovo, where the Serb population is densely populated.

The increased presence of Kosovo security forces in Serb-populated areas in the north of the country to ensure security in the region ahead of the elections led to mutual tension between the two countries.

Following the events in the north, Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani announced that early local elections were postponed until April 2023, but this decision did not reduce tension in the region.

Kosovo police said he was attacked during a EULEX night patrol while Kosovo Serbs erected barricades in the north of the country, following the arrest of former Serb member Dejan Pantic.

Petar Petkovic, director of the Serbian Government Office for Kosovo, claimed that Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s Kosovo Special Police Unit (ROSU) entered Gazivode and tore up Serbian flags.

While the European Union (EU), NATO and the US have called for de-escalation in northern Kosovo, Kosovo and Serbia continue to make serious statements.

Serbia considers Kosovo, which unilaterally declared its independence in 2008, as its territory.

Serbia and Kosovo, which regularly clash, are trying to find a common path towards normalizing relations and, ultimately, getting the two countries to know each other, within the framework of the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue Process launched in 2011 under EU mediation. (AA)