Office for Kosovo and Metohija
Government of the Republic of Serbia

Đurić: Priština authorities not operating on their own

Director of the Serbian Government's Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Marko Đurić expressed his belief that Priština authorities did not independently venture on this series of aggressive actions aimed at provoking a conflict in Kosovo and Metohija.

He told the Pink TV that everything is performed with the „tacit consent of the great powers“.

According to Đurić, everyone is silent about the human rights that are being compromised to the detriment of Serbia, and on the other hand, war criminals are being released.

Đurić underlined that banning the train from entering from Central Serbia is only the acme of efforts aimed at provoking a conflict, and he recalled that entry was also banned to the President of Serbia Tomislav Nikolić on the occasion of the Orthodox Christmas, the locking up of the Orthodox church in downtown Priština, as well as the ban on shipping textbooks in Serbian language.

Đurić pointed out that stopping the train for Kosovska Mitrovica represents the crudest violation of basic human rights, in particular, the freedom of movement, guaranteed under all laws as well as under the Brussels agreement made between Belgrade and Pristina.

"This is about a train being a means of connecting people. This is about extending the railway of line Kraljevo-Kosovska Mitrovica to Belgrade, and about nothing more, but someone took it upon themselves to react in the worst possible way - by preparing to blast the railway lines and restrict the freedom of movement", Đurić said.

He stressed that Serbia has signaled a clear message that neither the events of 1999 nor those of 2004 would be repeated, and that Serbia will not suffer in silence and watch how its people in Kosovo and Metohija are being oppressed, ensuring that this message is clear to "our people, but also to those who are ready to make the worst moves, and these persons should moderate their behavior accordingly."

"The President of the Government of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, acted in a reasonable manner seeking to preserve stability and peace, and ward off endangering the Serbs, when he decided to stop the promotional train ride, and not give the slightest pretext to the extremists determined to the provoke a large-scale conflict, " Djuric said.

Đurić stressed that another crucial prevention factor is that Serbia made it absolutely clear that it will not tolerate violence against Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, and would be ready to act.

Đurić also added that dozens of buses of Albanian transport operators, marked with various designations, travel to Serbia daily without any response or pressure. He also stated that yesterday's events were not the first provocation aimed at Serbs in the last two months, seeking to trigger a conflict, and underscored that dozens of attacks on Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija take place every month.