Vucic meets with ambassadors of Quint states

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic requested on Tuesday that Quint states, which he said had "the greatest influence on Pristina", "urgently adopt and implement certain measures that would guarantee the safety of Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija, which is the precondition for any further dialogue with representatives of the interim authorities in Pristina."

Vucic made the request at a meeting with ambassadors of the Quint states - the US, the UK, France, Italy and Germany - and the head of the EU Delegation to Serbia, noting that Albin Kurti must withdraw his special forces because the Serbs would never accept occupation.

"I hope that you will succeed in reasoning with Kurti to get him to withdraw his forces and his personal mayors from the north," Vucic said at the meeting, whose sole topic was the most recent escalation of violence in Kosovo-Metohija.

Vucic voiced great dissatisfaction and strong concerns over the fact that a part of the international community continued to tolerate Pristina's unilateral moves that led to violence against the Serb community, resulting in a constant decline in the number of options that could lead to permanent peace and stability in the region, the presidential press office said in a statement.

Vucic presented a truthful timeline of Monday's events, during which many members of the Serb community were injured after gathering to voice their disgruntlement over a raid of Serbian buildings by Kurti's forces, as well as over an eroded trust in Kfor, which, in spite of guarantees provided, had not protected the Serbs and had not prevented an illegal and violent takeover of municipalities.

Vucic reminded the ambassadors that he had warned of such developments in a timely and persevering manner, as well as of the potential consequences of impunity for the actions of the institutions in Pristina, which he said was not only not meeting its commitments, but regularly making unilateral violent moves against the Serb community in Kosovo-Metohija that were accompanied by numerous and frequent incidents resulting in woundings, beatings, harassment and open discrimination of Serbs.

It is high time a part of the international community finally reacted in a strong, clear and unequivocal manner to the policy of the Pristina institutions and protected the Serbs from growing pressure and brutal violence that is being used in spite of all mechanisms designed, among other purposes, to protect the community, he said.

Expressing regret over injuries sustained by Kfor soldiers, Vucic noted that a much higher number of Serbs had been injured and that firearms and massive physical force had been used against them even though they had offered non-violent resistance from the very outset.

Vucic added that preserving peace was crucial in the present situation but that the safety of the Serb community was the most important.

He noted that Serbia would continue communication with NATO/Kfor representatives in the best faith to help preserve peace and stability.

The Quint ambassadors and the head of the EU delegation voiced concern over the escalation of violence and attacks on Kfor soldiers and requested a return to dialogue with a view to finding a political way out of the situation, the statement said.