A play game is at hand, in which Kurti, on the one hand, is attempting to portray the Serbian heritage as Kosovan, while also alleging that he wants to negotiate with Serbs – but not with Serbia because, according to Kurti, it has no business in Kosovo – the Serbian President, Aleksandar Vucic said on Thursday following a lunch meeting with the SOC patriarch and bishops. He reiterated that the Visoki Decani monastery is Serbian church property and Serb cultural heritage. Vucic also emphasized that it was Hillary Clinton who came up with the idea of “Kosovan cultural heritage.”
The Serbian President had a lunch meeting with the SOC bishops and patriarch in Belgrade yesterday. The lunch was also attended by the Serbian member of the Presidency of BiH, Milorad Dodik.
The key issues for the Serb people – including the issue of Kosovo – were discussed at the joint meeting of the political leaders and church dignitaries, the president noted.
„We talked about the situation in Kosovo. We talked about the situation in Republika Srpska, about all the problems we are facing and we were open and we understood each other well.“
The president also informed the patriarch and the bishops about „numerous dangers“ and future meetings concerning Kosovo.
„I told them that Serbia is economically stronger now more than ever, that it is growing faster than ever, but I said that all this will remain as such as long as we can maintain peace and stability and as long as we can keep political things under control in the entire region,“ said the Serbian president.
Visoki Decani belongs to the SOC, but „Kosovo’s cultural heritage“ started with Hillary Clinton
„Hard times and heavy burdens are ahead of us,“ the Serbian president alerted yesterday, commenting on the latest events regarding a SOC church in Kosovo – the monastery of Visoki Decani. He praised its clergy for reacting very wisely, by „not responding to every provocation.”
On the other hand, Vucic revealed that he cannot fathom how „part of the Serb public does not understand“ Kurti’s „play game“.
„Kurti is not talking about Serbian heritage, but about Kosovan heritage. That the Decani Monastery is a cultural heritage of Kosovo, how come people don’t notice that?! He is pretending this entire time that he loves Serbs, wants to negotiate with Serbs and for them to lead good lives in his independent country of Kosovo, but he will not negotiate with Serbia because it has no business in Kosovo.“
The president argued that apart from certain politicians, the media also „do not see“ this.
„The essence lies in that, it used to be Mrs. Clinton’s idea – to talk about Kosovo’s cultural heritage the entire time. It is not Kosovan, it is Serbian, it could be Kosovan within the Serbian heritage or whatever you like,“ said Vucic.
Visoki Decani is Serbian cultural heritage and it belongs to the Serbian Orthodox Church – he stressed.
This is similar to the games played in Montenegro. ‘Orthodox Church in Montenegro’ – it is not the Orthodox Church in Montenegro, but the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro
In his words, it is only a matter of time before Pristina comes out with „its own Miras Dedeic, whom they will register as an NGO somewhere in their police.“
The bishops were „surprised“ by Greece’s reaction
Vucic claims that the bishops were surprised by the reaction of Greece.
„Little is known about it in public. Namely, at one point, Greece – we found it strange, because that happened at the time when Pristina introduced taxes on goods from central Serbia – allowed them (cf. Kosovo) to establish a so-called trade office. Now they went a step further. On Friday, as the state of Serbia, we were officially informed that they will improve their relations with Pristina, at the level of the so-called office for Kosovo’s interests. They established relations at the level of political directors, that is the highest possible level to the level of a minister,“ the president said.
After this, the next step would be Greece’s recognition of Kosovo – he warned, begging the representatives of Greece not to go through with this.
According to Vucic, this complicates matters for Serbia.
Not only because Greece’s recognition of Kosovo would show that Europe is „united against the interests of Serbia and the international public order“ on that issue, but because there is a danger of other countries recognizing Kosovo under pressure, he alleged.
„Then we would enter bilateral agreements where a third country would represent Kosovo, which could thus become a member of certain international organizations and institutions such as NATO.“
Confirming that they contacted the Greek ambassador in Belgrade to discuss this issue, but also that Serbia did not take any measures.
„We trust in friendship and we hope that it (cf. Greece) will not go for additional measures,“ Vucic said.
Dialogue in June, pressures on Serbia
The President also commented on the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, which is scheduled to resume in June.
He underlined that he expects to face pressure.
„Everything that Kosovo Albanians are doing represents pressure on the Republic of Serbia, and of course, there will be attempts to ensure Kosovo’s independence through various regional initiatives,“ Vucic said.
Even through something that would sometimes sound tempting or a good suggestion to either you or me, when, in fact, a de facto recognition of Kosovo’s independence lies behind it
Although Serbia is facing a difficult period in a political sense, „surrender is not an option“, Vucic concluded.
Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
