Petkovic receives farewell visit from OSCE ambassador in Kosovo-Metohija

BELGRADE - The head of the Serbian government Office for Kosovo-Metohija Petar Petkovic received a farewell visit from the OSCE Ambassador in Kosovo-Metohija Michael Davenport on Wednesday.

Petkovic took the opportunity to highlight the political and security problems faced by Kosovo-Metohija Serbs on a daily basis, which he said posed a direct threat to their future.

Petkovic noted that, by refusing to meet an 11-year-old commitment to establish a Community of Serb Municipalities under agreements reached in 2013 and 2015, Pristina's PM Albin Kurti clearly demonstrated that he was, in fact, not interested in dialogue, the Office for Kosovo-Metohija said in a statement.

Speaking about the position of Serbs in the province, Petkovic noted that the Pristina regime had created impossible living conditions for the Serbs, including by daily violent pressure, threats to their human and political liberties, arbitrary arrests of Serbs on false accusations of alleged war crimes and various other crimes, bans on cash operations in Serbian dinars and goods from central Serbia and by stifling Serbian institutions.

As a result of all this, Serbs continue to move out of the north of Kosovo-Metohija and the process is ongoing, as also noted by many international factors, Petkovic said.

In spite of unequivocal facts indicating that Pristina is continuously escalating the situation on the ground through unilateral moves and daily incidents that can have dangerous and far-reaching consequences, Belgrade remains committed to peace and dialogue, he said.

Petkovic noted that Belgrade expected stronger engagement by the OSCE towards protecting the rights of Serbs and other non-Albanian communities in Kosovo-Metohija and towards establishing rule of law and a secure environment for all citizens, but pointed out a need for such activities to be much more visible and more intensive on the ground.