Petkovic: Kurti's raid of post offices direct provocation of war conflict

BELGRADE - The head of the Serbian government Office for Kosovo-Metohija Petar Petkovic said on Monday the so-called Kosovo Police had raided and seized Post of Serbia offices in the north Kosovo-Metohija municipalities of Leposavic, Kosovska Mitrovica, Zvecan and Zubin Potok earlier in the day in a coordinated and illegal operation that was unilateral and not in line with any agreement.

With the raid, Pristina's PM Albin Kurti is directly provoking a war conflict and evidently wants to spark conflicts on the ground at all costs, in front of the eyes of the international community, Petkovic said in a statement, noting that Pristina's police had also raided the treasury of the Serbian Postal Savings Bank.

"It is a fresh crisis masterminded by Albin Kurti, who wants to expel all Serbs from Kosovo-Metohija in this way, denying them all fundamental human rights, intimidating them and depriving them of normal living conditions in a planned manner," Petkovic said.

He said Pristina's move was a brutal violation of agreements and contrary to a 2015 deal on telecommunications that clearly stated that issues related to postal services would be resolved exclusively through dialogue.

He said that, after banning the Serbian dinar and shutting down Postal Savings Bank offices, Kurti had borne down on Post of Serbia operations in order to leave the Serbs who were customers of Post of Serbia services without any means of livelihood and the company's employees without jobs.

He urged the international community to take steps to stop Kurti's destructive campaign.

"Otherwise, all Serbs will either be expelled or arrested and all the results of the dialogue and agreements will be trampled underfoot and annulled. If that is what they want and if that is the message they are sending us with their passive attitude, they should tell us that clearly," Petkovic noted.