Petkovic, Turkish ambassador discuss situation in Kosovo-Metohija, position of Serbs

BELGRADE - The head of the Serbian government Office for Kosovo-Metohija Petar Petkovic met with Turkish Ambassador to Belgrade Hami Aksoy on Wednesday to discuss the current situation in Kosovo-Metohija, pointing out that Serbs in the province faced impossible living conditions and were subjected to daily attacks and terror by Albin Kurti's regime.

Petkovic cited a series of daily, unilateral moves by the Pristina regime in its campaign of ethnically motivated violence against Serbs in the province, the Office for Kosovo-Metohija said in a statement.

At the same time, he warned that the Kurti regime was obstructing dialogue doggedly and systematically as it was relying on unilateral, unlawful and violent decisions as well as an expulsion of Serbs, especially from the north of Kosovo-Metohija, as testified by the fact that more than 15 per cent of the Serb population has left the territory of the province.

He especially pointed out that, by all possible ways, Pristina was trying to dodge its commitment to establish a Community of Serb Municipalities as agreed in Brussels in 2013 and specified in 2015.

Instead of honouring agreements, Pristina frequently uses obstructions to prolong and ultimately, make completely pointless, the process of forming the Community, which is necessary for guaranteeing, and exercise of, the collective and individual rights of Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija, he said.

Petkovic also noted that Belgrade would continue to insist on normalisation of relations and finding a lasting and sustainable solution to all accumulated problems in the province, which he said was in the interest of all citizens in Kosovo-Metohija as well as in the interest of peace and stability across the region.