Djuric informs UK's Doughty of Serbia's positions on Kosovo-Metohija canal attack

BELGRADE - Serbian FM Marko Djuric spoke with the UK's Minister of State for Europe, North America and Overseas Territories Stephen Doughty on Monday to inform him of the situation in the Autonomous Province of Kosovo-Metohija and Serbia's positions on the recent sabotage on the Ibar-Lepenac canal in the Zubin Potok municipality in the north of the province.

In a phone call with Doughty, Djuric noted that Serbia insisted on an investigation being carried out under strict international supervision to identify the perpetrators and those who had ordered the attack on a vital infrastructure facility in Kosovo-Metohija, as well as to establish the political motivation behind the incident.

Djuric explained that Serbia would provide all the necessary assistance to efforts to shed light on the circumstances of the attack and to an investigation that would lead to those responsible, and noted that international partners could count on full cooperation from Serbia, the Serbian MFA said.

Djuric again warned of attempts by Pristina to implicate Belgrade in the incident without any grounds or evidence whatsoever, and noted that this was another attempt by the Albin Kurti regime to discredit Serbia and divert attention from the fact that Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija were targeted by physical violence and violence of law on a daily basis and that disenfranchisement of Serbs and oppression against them had become institutionalised.

Until the investigation produces certain results, it is very important that the international community backs Belgrade's efforts to preserve peace and stability in the region and stop irresponsible attempts by Kurti to use this situation to continue to destabilise the region and cater to his own pre-election needs, the statement said.