Petkovic writes to int'l representatives,calls for stopping expulsion of Kosovo-Metohija Serbs

BELGRADE - In a letter to representatives of the international community, the head of the Serbian government Office for Kosovo-Metohija Petar Petkovic warned on Wednesday of an attempt by Pristina to thwart the work of the Serbian University of Pristina, which is temporarily based in Kosovska Mitrovica, and noted that Pristina was sending a message to Kosovo-Metohija Serbs and other non-Albanians, as well as to the international community, that it was ready to finish what it had begun in 1999 and 2024.

In the letter, seen by Tanjug, Petkovic called on the representatives to take all the necessary steps urgently and unconditionally to stop further expulsions of Serbs.

The letter was sent to the EU special envoy for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue Peter Sorensen, the ambassadors of Quint states, the head of the EU delegation to Belgrade, ambassadors of all EU member states, the head of the UN Office in Belgrade, as well as to other relevant international representatives.

Petkovic noted that a group of ethnic Albanians, who he said had been evidently acting on orders from the "pro-regime Self-Determination movement" had barged into the building of the Faculty of Technical Sciences in Kosovska Mitrovica and searched the premises without authorisation or any other grounds.

In a reckless and brazen manner, they issued an ultimatum to the employees to leave the building in 30 days or sign a "lease agreement" with an ethnic Albanian university that usurped the facilities of the University of Pristina in Pristina after 1999, he added.

Petkovic noted that raiding institutions and taking them over by force, as well as intimidating employees and citizens encountered in them had become a "modus operandi of Albanian extremists controlling the instruments of power of the provisional self-government institutions in Pristina."

He noted that buildings of Serbian institutions in Kosovo-Metohija had been shut down and that more than 20 per cent of the Serb population in the province had been forced to move away and seek refuge in central Serbia.

These are clear indicators that all of Pristina's activities are a part of a well-organised and widespread campaign of expulsion aimed at completing the ethnic cleansing that began as early as in 1999, but also a testimony to the futility of all public condemnations and statements issued by the international community, he added.

"We warn once again that the already established intolerable living conditions for Serbs and other non-Albanians are 'just' a prelude to a new wave of pogrom announced by Albanian extremists and usurpers of the instruments of power for March 15 this year, when they will declare Serbs and other non-Albanians in Kosovo-Metohija as foreigners in their own homes," Petkovic said.

In that way, the Pristina regime wants to send a strong message to the Serbs and other non-Albanians, as well as to the entire international community, that it is ready to finish what it started in March 1999 and March 2004, he warned.

Petkovic noted that the move would target roughly over 10,000 Serbs and other non-Albanians who were permanent residents in Kosovo-Metohija but had no personal documents issued by Pristina.