Drecun: West not criticising Kurti's decision on dinar but its implementation

BELGRADE  By sending a technical delegation to Brussels, Pristina practically boycotted Tuesday's dialogue about the suspension of the Serbian dinar in Kosovo-Metohija, the outgoing chairman of the Serbian parliamentary committee on Kosovo-Metohija Milovan Drecun said on Wednesday, noting that the West was not criticising Pristina PM Albin Kurti's decision on the dinar but only the manner in which it was being implemented.

"Pristina boycotted yesterday's meeting and it demonstrated it wants no discussions at political level. They believe they should discuss that internally," Drecun said in an appearance on the RTS.

He said Pristina had wanted its so-called central bank to engage in dialogue with the National Bank of Serbia, which would have meant a "de facto inter-state dialogue."

Rather than resolve the dinar issue through a Community of Serb Municipalities, Kurti has said he wants recognition by Belgrade before any discussions about the Community can be held, Drecun said.

"Kurti has taken a unilateral measure. The solution is to establish a Community of Serb Municipalities because, under both the Brussels Agreement and the French-German plan, Belgrade can finance the Serb population in Kosovo-Metohija. Around 69,000 people are receiving salaries in dinars and there are also tuition funds for students and all those people must go to central Serbia to get their money," he said.

Speaking about a Ukraine-Southeast Europe summit in Tirana, also attended by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Drecun said the dominant topic would not be Kosovo-Metohija, but the war in Ukraine.

Noting that Ukrainian troops were being trained in Kosovo-Metohija, Drecun said it would be interesting to ask Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy how come he was sending troops to get training there if he did not recongise the so-called Kosovo.