Petkovic slams Pristina's decision to ban Serbian-language media from covering local polls

BELGRADE - The director of the Serbian government Office for Kosovo-Metohija Petar Petkovic said on Friday Pristina's decision to ban Serbian-language media outlets from reporting from Kosovo-Metohija on October 12 - election day in the province - showed there was no freedom of speech or reporting in Kosovo-Metohija, and noted that, in Sunday's local polls, Serbs needed to show unity and respond to four years of Albin Kurti's terror by voting for Srpska lista.

Petkovic said a decision by Pristina's central electoral commission to deny accreditation to all Serbian-language media outlets ahead of the polls was scandalous, and added that all that Albin Kurti and Pristina were doing to Kosovo-Metohija Serbs and everything that was Serbian had long been no surprise.

Kurti initially tried to ban Srpska lista from running in the elections and then banned its promotional video, and then reduced the number of members of electoral boards that include Srpska lista representatives, Petkovic said.

"All this shows clearly that Kurti is seriously afraid of a Srpska lista victory on Sunday, when Srpska lista is due to reclaim the four municipalities in the north of Kosovo-Metohija and confirm its victory in the six Serb municipalities south of the Ibar River," Petkovic said in a statement.