Gov't adopts package of measures agreed by Vucic, Kosovo Serbs

BELGRADE - The Serbian government adopted on Saturday a package of measures agreed at Thursday's meeting between Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and representatives of Kosovo-Metohija Serbs in Raska, central Serbia.

In a statement, the Serbian government said the package of measures aimed at protecting the rights of Serbs and other non-Albanians as well as vital state and national interests in the territory of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo-Metohija was comprised of five points.

Under the first point, the Republic of Serbia demands an urgent reaction by the international community to ensure the interim self-government institutions in Pristina immediately cease the violation of a vehicle licence plate agreement and ensure full and unobstructed movement to Serbs who are using vehicles with legal and legitimate licence plates issued by the Republic of Serbia.

To protect that inalienable human right of Serbs and other non-Albanians, it is necessary for the interim self-government institutions in Pristina to act without delay in line with all agreements from the dialogue as well as all other relevant documents of international law, the statement noted.

Should the interim self-government institutions in Pristina reject a compromise solution and continue to obstruct the freedom of movement of Serbs and other citizens using legal and legitimate Republic of Serbia licence plates in Kosovo-Metohija, the relevant authorities of the Republic of Serbia will respond with strong and adequate political measures to protect the institutional order.

In that case, the state authorities will take arbitrary measures targeting vehicles with licence plates issued by the interim self-government institutions in Pristina, the statement said.

The second point is that urgent and unconditional formation of a Community of Serb Municipalities in Kosovo-Metohija is the absolute precondition for all further steps in the dialogue, as well as the precondition for a return of Serbs to provincial institutions and for any further political activity in the province on their part.

The interim self-government institutions in Pristina are obliged to ensure the formation of a Community of Serb Municipalities exclusively in line with four agreements reached on that issue in the dialogue to date.

That means that a Community of Serb Municipalities must possess all legal and other guarantees stipulated by the First Agreement and the implementation plan and the agreement on the scope of work and the mandate of the steering team for establishment of a Community of Serb Municipalities from 2013, as well as all elements defining in detail its special legal position and its objectives, structure, authorities, powers, sources of funding and all other factors precisely defined by the General Principles from 2015.

Under the third point, the government noted that the ethnic-Albanian police forces of the interim self-government institutions in Pristina were illegally deployed in the north of Kosovo-Metohija, brutally terrorising peaceful local Serbs.

Representatives of relevant international civil and security missions in Kosovo-Metohija are well familiar with that, as well as with the fact that, through the presence of those forces, the interim self-government institutions in Pristina violate the provisions of the First Agreement regulating the issue of police presence in the north of Kosovo-Metohija, it said.

For that reason, the government of the Republic of Serbia requests that the said international missions urgently take measures to protect the lives and the rights of Serbs and ensure a withdrawal of ethnic-Albanian police forces of the interim self-government institutions in Pristina, in line with commitments stipulated by UN SC Resolution 1244.

Under the fourth point, the government said it strongly condemned a non-democratic attempt by the interim self-government institutions in Pristina to hold local elections in the four majority-Serb municipalities in the north of Kosovo-Metohija.

The government said it believed that such elections made no sense as, that way, the interim self-government institutions in Pristina were striving to create a situation in the north of Kosovo-Metohija in which an ethnic Albanian population of 2 pct would govern, and decide about, a local Serb population of 98 pct.

The move has exposed fully the anti-democratic character of the interim self-government institutions in Pristina, as well as a political ambition of their leader Albin Kurti to become a de facto mayor of Zubin Potok, Leposavic, Zvecan and northern Kosovska Mitrovica with less than 2 pct of votes, the government noted.

The Serbian government supports the decision of legitimate representatives of Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija and all Serbs not to take part in that non-democratic and illegitimate process, as well as their determination to return to the political life of the interim self-government institutions in Pristina only after fulfilment of the well-known preconditions of the establishment of a Community of Serb Municipalities, ensuring freedom of movement to Serbs in line with agreements on vehicle licence plates and a withdrawal of illegally deployed ethnic-Albanian police forces from the north of Kosovo-Metohija.

Under the fifth point, the government said the Republic of Serbia would take all lawful political and economic measures to ensure the protection of the lives and the fundamental human and political rights of Serbs and other non-Albanians in Kosovo-Metohija.

It said it would also step up measures to ensure continued comprehensive social and economic progress of Serb communities and that, to that end, it would expedite infrastructure development of those communities through a special investment programme and boost financial support measures for businesses, farmers, young people and the underprivileged.