If the safety, physical and mental integrity of President Rakic or any citizen is threatened – we will hold Kurti and Svecla responsible, Srpska Lista reacted last night after Kosovo Minister of Internal Affairs, Xhelal Svecla, accused the president of this party of „maintaining barricades in cooperation with criminal and armed gangs.“ Svecla’s reaction arrived after Rakic previously accused Kosovan PM of “openly proposing killing Serbs.”
The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, said that Pristina is concerned that the removal of barricades in the north „cannot exclude victims,“ the Guardian reported. Kurti’s statement was harshly criticized by the Serbian state leadership, as well as SL representatives from the north of Kosovo, who interpreted it as „a call for the liquidation of Serbs on the barricades“.
The Srpska Lista chief, Goran Rakic, said in a video address from the barricades in Rudare yesterday that Kurti „openly proposes killing Serbs.“ He also had a message for Pristina, i.e. the „recipe“ for removing the barricades – „release the arrested, withdraw the police from the North, remove the lists“.
„The only language they speak is the language of murder, while the only language we know is stability, order, and law, for everyone and without distinction,“ Kosovan Minister of the Interior, Xhelal Svecla, reacted last night.
Svecla once again said that the barricades are maintained by „criminal and armed gangs“, with the support of Goran Rakic.
Goran Rakic, in cooperation with criminal and armed gangs, maintains barricades that have been blocking our citizens and members of the Kosovo Police for 11 days
„With our partners, we are making maximum efforts to remove the barricades without escalation, and in the meantime, they are arming the gangs inside the barricades,“ Svecla added.
Without specifying who exactly are „they“ he is talking about, the Kosovan minister alleged that they also do not have the support of the Serbs „in their criminal acts“, and that they are trying to „frighten them with narratives about murders and murder lists“.
Svecla underlines that „there is no compromise with crime“, and that freedom of movement „cannot be conditioned by the freedom of criminals who threatened all citizens without distinction through their acts of terrorism“.
„Anyone who has harmed the security of our country in any way will face justice,“ he said in a Facebook post.
SL: Svecla drew a target on Rakic
In the meantime, the largest Kosovo Serb party reacted, saying that they would hold Kurti and Svecla personally responsible if any harm falls on “Rakic or if any citizen is threatened.”
„SL strongly condemns the drawing of a target on the President of SL, Goran Rakic, by the Minister of Police Xhelal Svecla, which comes only a few hours after Albin Kurti’s threats to the Serbs at the barricades,“ the party said last night.
They alleged that Svecla sent „the most direct threats to the legal and legitimate political representative of the largest party of Serbs in Kosovo without any proof.”
Moreover, they note that this minister in Kurti’s government is in charge of „armed special forces, who have so far shown their hatred for everything Serbian countless times“.
„Xhelal Svecla, you and Kurti are responsible for the situation we are in because months ago you carried out repression against the innocent, bare-handed Serbian people. Because you forbade us vaccinations, elections, a referendum, barged into kindergartens with armored vehicles and firearms, sent ROSU units to the bare-handed people, arrested people without evidence, made lists for the arrest and killing of Serbs, built bases for your armed formations, seizing Serbian land, and as a cowboy, you came to the north of Kosovo, where you took pictures, and setting a bad example for your subordinates, and months ago, carried out institutional violence,“ SL said.
This party claims that the barricades are maintained by Serbs – doctors, professors, respectable citizens, women, mothers, and sisters – not criminals.
„But you don’t understand this, because a criminal doesn’t believe in honesty. It was not Rakic, but Svecla, who was part of the movement during whose protests institutions’ buildings were stoned, official vehicles were set on fire, and the government building in Pristina was targeted,“ Srpska Lista emphasizes.
They also say that they do not expect a reaction from international representatives, nor „the prosecution of Svecla due to the false accusations he made“.
On the other hand, they had a message to Svecla, Kurti and „their mentors“ that „there is no such threat that will frighten any member of SL“ or prevent them in peacefully and democratically fighting for their rights and the survival of the Serb people.
The head of the Kosovo Office, Petar Petkovic presented similar accusations against Svecla last night.
„After Kurti’s call to kill Serbs, Xhelal Svecla continued his brutal threats tonight, targeting Goran Rakic! These threats are serious because Svecla directly controls Kurti’s special forces with firearms. Don’t play with the lives of the Serbian people in Kosovo!“ Petkovic tweeted.
The crisis team from the north called for the „biggest protest ever“ on Thursday, at noon in Rudare near the cross installation, where one of the barricades is also located.
The local Serbs erected barricades in the north of Kosovo, in nine places, 12 days ago. The Jarinje and Brnjak crossings have also been closed since then. Although Kosovo and international officials have been calling for their removal since day one, the barricades have yet to be dismantled. Christmas is also drawing near, and the German ambassador to Kosovo, Jorn Rode, has now called for their removal by that holiday.
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