INTERVIEW Petar Petković: Pristina must discuss the formation of the JCC

Pristina’s ONLY negotiating platform is to try to provoke official Belgrade to some unbalanced reaction, and not to discuss and resolve open issues. There is no sense for Pristina to run away from the topic of forming the Union of Serbian Municipalities, because they will have to discuss it, considering that Belgrade will not give up on that request.

This was told to “Novosti” by the director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, after the failure of the last round of dialogue in Brussels due to the refusal of Albanian representatives to discuss the topic on the agenda, and at a time when new provocations about unification with Tirana are coming from Pristina.

* Does it make sense to negotiate when the obstructions continue, and Brussels does not have a mechanism or will not put pressure on the Albanians?

– Representatives of Pristina came to Brussels with a single goal – to make the dialogue completely meaningless. Not only did they categorically refuse to discuss the formation of the JCC, but they also went a step further, refusing to talk to Belgrade about the energy issue. Instead of directly disparaging the Brussels agreement, it would be better for Kurti to imagine why today Gjakova, Pristina, Peja and other cities of the monoethnic environment have been cleansed by the expulsion of Serbs. In addition, for the sake of provocation, Kurti announces that he will allegedly visit Serbian communities, although it would be better for him to visit the cities where he experienced an election debacle. These are all messages in the face of the EU. I am sure that they understood those messages very well and I hope that they will be able to respond to them.

* Has the time come for the Brussels agreements to be declared unsuccessful, and for the negotiations to return to the auspices of the UN Security Council?

– There is no doubt that today we would have a much more favorable position if the negotiations remained conducted under the auspices of the United Nations, because we have our traditional allies there. However, the former government, led by Boris Tadic, Dragan Djilas and Vuk Jeremic, decided to move them to Brussels. That is why Serbia is paying for their guild today, and we are having talks where our room for maneuver is smaller than the top of the pin. Only thanks to President Aleksandar Vučić, our voice is heard today and we, as the leading country in terms of GDP growth, are able to help our people in the southern province economically. That is how our people feel and know that the state of Serbia will never leave them in the lurch.

* Representatives of the Serbian List gave an ultimatum to Pristina to form the JCC by the beginning of the year or leave the institutions.

– Neither we nor SL speak the language of the ultimatum, it was the message of the Serbian people who were targeted by ROSU for three weeks, the people who were shot by Kurti’s special forces and who stood in the rain and frost for two weeks defending their basic right to freedom of movement even after the first drop of Serbian blood fell in the north of Kosovo and Metohija, when Srećko Sofronijević was seriously wounded. The Serbian people are fed up with the fact that they have been waiting for almost nine years to exercise their collective rights contained in the JCC, while at the same time Pristina tolerates all violations of agreements and contracts. SL heard well the message of its people who gave undivided and absolute support to their representatives in the local elections.

* There are still major problems with the return of displaced persons. Is there a way to encourage people and return to their homes?

– The rate of return to Kosovo and Metohija is less than two percent, it is the lowest in one post-conflict area in the world. That speaks enough about the absence of any political readiness of Pristina to allow the return of Serbs to the centuries-old hearths. They are systematically deterred from returning by secret indictments, arrests, usurpation of property, physical and legal violence, but also by desecration of Serbian graves, which sends the message that neither living nor deceased Serbs have peace in Kosovo and Metohija. No matter how big the obstructions from Pristina, official Belgrade is doing everything to create conditions for the sustainable return of our people, such as the construction of the returnee settlement “Sunny Valley” near Zvecan, new apartments and houses, kindergartens and other infrastructure projects in which more is invested today. for the last 40 years, thanks to President Vučić.

KURTI IN VAIN OF IMAGINATION

* Kurti recently told Belgrade that the so-called Kosovo will not recognize Serbia while the 2006 Constitution is in force.

– It is obvious that Kurti did not manage to master many lessons from political theory and practice because his so-called recognition is not necessary for anyone in the world. Serbia is an internationally recognized state and a member of all international organizations, including the UN, whose corridors and corridors are the only available point for it, and only sometimes. Kurti would have to know this fact well, before he even thinks that he can condition the dialogue with his dreams to frame and decide on the highest legal act of Serbia.