The head of the Kosovo Office, Marko Djuric assessed today that the Serbian Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin’s statement that a delimitation between Serbs and Albanians should occur as soon as possible is not “an attack on Serbia’s constitution.” Djuric stated that Vulin had the courage to express his position, adding that everyone „within the internal dialogue“ has the right to say how the Kosovo issue should be resolved.
„I do not think that Vulin’s position on the issue of Kosovo and Metohija is an attack on the constitutional order or anything like it,“ Djuric said.
He put forward his position, which I may consider as rational, but I can also say that this is a position that is part of the Internal Dialogue, if you will. When it comes to Kosovo and Metohija I look at it in this way because, I will remind you that, if I’m not mistaken, a debate is finally being led in Serbia for more than two years now – at the initiative of President Vucic – on how to approach solving the issue of Kosovo and Metohija as a state and society. Everyone has the opportunity to express their views within the framework of this discussion and debate
KoSSev: The institutional Internal Dialogue on the issue of Kosovo and Metohija started in October 2017 at the initiative of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. Vucic then said that this dialogue would last for months because, as he claimed at the time, „we do not have time for years.“
„It is realistic that we come out with a proposal for Kosovo and Metohija in March of next year,“ Vucic announced in mid-October 2017.
This did not happen, however, and the Internal Dialogue has de facto died. The last meeting within the Internal Dialogue was held in March 2018. In July of last year, on the occasion of the anniversary of the launch of the Internal Dialogue, the National Convention on the European Union asked the President and the government whether the Internal Dialogue on Kosovo and Metohija is still ongoing or is this process completed, as well as when will the analytical report of the public debates conducted within the framework of the Internal Dialogue on Kosovo and Metohija be made available to the public. No response arrived from the authorities at the time.
However, President Vucic came out with the idea of a solution to the Kosovo issue on August 9th, 2018.
„I am in favour of it and I am not hiding it, I am certainly in favour of it, and that’s the policy I represent. Whether it will get the support of the people or not, I am in favour of a delimitation with the Albanians,“ said the Serbian President.
He also claimed that his idea „is nothing new“ and that he has been „advocating this option for years.“
He said that the fate of Kosovo will be „decided by citizens,” adding that they have nothing to decide about now “because of some irresponsible people in the international community and Pristina who leave no room to talk about the rational solution of this problem.“
Speaking about the state top meetings in Berlin, Djuric said that a clear picture was created of what the people in the region are thinking and in what way they intend to deal with Serbia and its interests, as well as the rights and position of Serbs in the region.
The head of the Kosovo Office also announced that talks will be held in the coming days with Kosovo Serb political representatives – most likely in the presence of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic – when decisions on the taxes on import of goods from Serbia will be made.
He said that these taxes are damaging the Serbian economy by more than €500 million annually. Furthermore, Djuric claimed that Serbian goods are being smuggled into Kosovo and asked Pristina who was responsible for that smuggling and whose companies are profiting from it.
When asked about the investigation into the murder of the President of the SDP Initiative, Oliver Ivanovic, Djuric said that the attempts by individuals to implicitly accuse the authorities in Belgrade for his murder are “shameful” because of different attitudes during the campaign for local elections in Kosovo in 2017.
Djuric also said that Oliver Ivanovic was in prison for three and a half years and that during that time, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and the Kosovo Office called for his release in the „most explicit way.“
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