Djuric: OSCE mission important for safeguarding rights of Kosovo-Metohija Serbs

BELGRADE - Serbian FM Marko Djuric met with OSCE Secretary-General Feridun Sinirlioglu in Belgrade on Wednesday, noting that Serbia attached special importance to the work of the OSCE Mission in its autonomous province of Kosovo-Metohija and highlighting the mission's importance for safeguarding the rights of Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija.

Djuric pointed out unilateral moves by the Pristina provisional authorities, which pose an enormous threat to the political, economic and all other rights of Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija, the Serbian MFA said in a statement.

He noted that Serbs in the southern province increasingly faced political arrests, and added that international institutions needed to react more intensively and condemn such actions.

He said a Community of Serb Municipalities, mandated by the Brussels Agreement, had still not been formed and that the rights of Kosovo-Metohija Serbs that were defined even by Pristina's own acts remained unfulfilled.

He noted that, for many years now, the OSCE had been building a security infrastructure around the world and that Serbia appreciated and supported the organisation's role in the international framework.

He thanked the OSCE Mission to Serbia for supporting the country's reforms and strengthening of institutions, especially in the context of EU integration, one of Serbia's main foreign policy objectives.

Djuric said Serbia wanted to have an active role in achieving peace and stability in the world while respecting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all countries in line with the UN Charter.

Noting that Serbia was a firm advocate of respect for the Dayton Agreement, Djuric said the country wanted to create a good climate in the region and that that was among the priorities of its diplomatic activities.

"Good-neighbourly relations are a precondition for stability and prosperity of the entire region," he said.