Vucevic receives schoolchildren from Kosovo-Metohija

BELGRADE - Serbian PM Milos Vucevic received a group of Serb schoolchildren from Kosovo-Metohija on Friday and thanked them for living in the province, noting that Serbia would maintain its presence in the territory as long as they remained there.

The children from primary schools in Leposavic, Socanica and Lesak are on a several-day visit to Belgrade.

Vucevic told them they were not guests but that they were in their sole capital city.

"You do not need to thank us - we need to say thank you to you not only for being here today but, first of all, for remaining in Kosovo-Metohija and living there. Serbia will be present in Kosovo-Metohija as long as you are in Kosovo-Metohija. Without people and without our church, there is no state either," Vucevic said.

He said that, regrettably, children in Kosovo-Metohija did not live in the same conditions as their peers in other parts of Serbia because they had been born in a period of an "unfortunate situation" in Kosovo-Metohija.

"You are too little to understand all the things that are going on and that you have much more difficult conditions for growing up," he said.

Vucevic said that "not so small" things had been done in the three municipalities and that assistance had been provided for a renovation of the children's schools.