Bearing in mind that Prime Minister Albin Kurti often proudly points out that a high degree of democracy is among Kosovo’s greatest achievements in its modern history, we hereby invite him to publicly disassociate himself from discriminatory and lies-based attacks directed at us by Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi and Deputy Minister of Local Self-Government Arber Vokrri, representatives of several NGOs who were in Brussels last week, together with members of the Working Group of the National Convention on the EU for Chapter 35, announced yesterday.
After their joint meeting with the EU envoy for dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, Miroslav Lajčak, the Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, Besnik Bislimi, as well as the Self-Determination Movement harshly reacted.
They were bothered by the fact that Lajčak gathered NGOs from Kosovo and NCEU at a joint meeting, a few hours before the report on progress in negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia, without even mentioning that it was NCEU from Serbia.
They described the delegation of Serbs from Kosovo as an organization that actively and openly advocates against the integration of Serbs into Kosovo institutions.
Along with the representatives from Belgrade, that is, the coordinator of the NCEU Working Group, Dragiša Mijačić, the director of the New Social Initiative, Jovana Radosavljević, the director of Radio-television Kim, Isak Vorgučić, the director of the NGO „Aktiv“, Miodrag Milićević, and the deputy of the Kosovo Ombudsman, Srđan Sentić, also visited Brussels.
After criticism from Pristina, Viola von Kramon, the European Parliament rapporteur for Kosovo, came to their defense, as did the ambassadors of the Quint member countries in Pristina.
The delegation of Serbs from Kosovo spoke about the position of the Serbian community in Brussels in the European Parliament. The delegation from Pristina included two more Serbs from the north, the Deputy Minister for Communities and Return, Radoica Radomirović and the Deputy Mayor of North Mitrovica, Katarina Ađančić, led by the Deputy Minister of Local Self-Government and Administration, Arber Vokrri. This is actually where the „targeting“ of these NGO representatives began.
What did Vokrri say in Brussels about Serbian representatives of NGOs from Kosovo
From this trip to Brussels, Vokrri shared records from the parliament itself on his official Facebook profile.
He also published a set of photos, including his selfie, as well as a picture from the hall where the two delegations met in front of the European representatives.
In this selfie, he took a picture of a delegation of Serbs and stated that instead of encouraging Vučić’s millionaire propagandists, Quint should have asked them the question – Why do these persons use donations in Kosovo to threaten violence, unload a bunch of lies against Kosovo in Brussels, live in Serbia and encourage the repression of the regime against those Serbs who integrate into civil society in Kosovo?
In the same post, Vokrri quoted alleged statements from this meeting:
„‘Albanians usurp our properties and build military and police bases on them’, ‘They deny our citizens and thus the right to inherit property’, ‘They exclude us from institutions just because we are Serbs’, ‘They left us without supplies because they stopped imports from Serbia’, ‘The elderly are left without health care, children without schools and kindergartens, because they cut off our finances in dinars’, ‘This government has cut off all communication with the Serbs (because it does not communicate with Srpska List)’ , ‘This government will soon cleanse Kosovo of Serbs’, ‘They are pushing us into a regional conflict’. And other disgusting insults.“
„These individuals supported by Viola von Cramon and several other MEPs turned furious when we denied those lies,“ he continued.
Vokrri went a step further, stating that this group of Serbs „did not have the courage to continue the debate with them“.
He also accused them of „proceeding to lie“, saying that it is not true that he did not allow his delegation to speak, but rather the organizers and „their propagandist friends“ did not allow them to do so.
Vokrri also published a screenshot of the media articles of Koha and KoSSev.
As far as KoSSev is concerned, it is a screenshot of a statement that Jovana Radosavljević gave after the initial accusations of Bislimi and Self-Determination.
However, Vokrri also published his own video, parts of his response during this discussion in Brussels from the hall of the European Parliament with a description of how he is actually dealing with the „Vučić narrative“. In the video, he addresses Mrs. Von Kramon, Schneider and other members of the EP, introducing the Serbian part of his delegation, stressing that he „listened patiently“ and that he „strongly disagrees with his colleagues“.
He asked the European Parliament – Why didn’t they invite real representatives of Serbs from Kosovo?
„Instead you invited people who live in Belgrade. Most of the people present here, I found out, live in Belgrade, not in Kosovo. Except for Mr. Isak Vorgučić. And when they come to Kosovo, they usually come to give instructions to the Vučić regime.“
„Some of you present here are representatives of organizations that publicly call for violence in Kosovo. I can quote their statements. Why didn’t you invite those Serbs who decided to live in Kosovo and who expressed their will to integrate and get involved in the socio-political life of Kosovo.“
He told the European parliamentarians that he wanted them to visit the North, and to experience first-hand how Serbian citizens feel, what their life is like, instead of just gathering here.
Vokrri also addressed the regulation of the Central Bank of Kosovo, saying that it „is not discriminatory and does not ban the dinar“.
He repeated that the regulation serves to prevent money from being brought into Kosovo in bags and used to finance „terrorist organizations“, and that the regulation is supposed to ensure that money enters Kosovo legally.
On his private Facebook profile, Vokrri shared the same posts, with slightly different descriptions. On a video from the European Parliament, he stated that „Vučić launched a strong counter-offensive, after the debacle in the Security Council against the Prime Minister“ and that he announced this along with the confrontation episode (with the Serbian delegation).
Joint reaction of NGOs
The NCEU Working Group reacted from Brussels last week, as well as the director of one of the named non-governmental organizations, Jovana Radosavljević. Today, she joined the joint announcement with the director of NGO Aktiv, Miodrag Milićevićević and Dragiša Mijačić – in front of the Institute for Territorial Economic Development.
They called on Prime Minister Albin Kurti “to publicly disassociate himself from discriminatory and untrue attacks directed at us by Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi and Deputy Minister of Local Self-Government Arber Vokrri.”
Moreover, they reiterated that they actively support the EU-facilitated Kosovo-Serbia Dialogue, and that they have been working both individually and jointly for years to build bridges between Albanians and Serbs, and publicly condemned all forms of violence in Kosovo.
“Accusations that we are ‘Vučić’s millionaire propagandists’, and that we receive instructions from the Serbian President, or anyone else, are the most heinous lies designed to scare us, expose us to public lynching, and prevent further cooperation with partners from different ethnic communities in Kosovo,” they said in a joint statement.
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