Drecun: Reaction of countries that can influence Pristina crucial

BELGRADE - The outgoing head of the Serbian parliamentary committee on Kosovo-Metohija Milovan Drecun said on Tuesday the countries that were able to influence Pristina's behaviour had already responded to the question of whether they would stop its moves.

"In the beginning, no one stopped Pristina from halting transports of goods from central Serbia to the territory of Kosovo-Metohija," Drecun told Prva TV.

"It was a unilateral measure and the excuse for it was the arrest of three of their (Pristina's) police officers who had purportedly gone to pick mushrooms and then crossed the administrative line, but when they were released, the measure was not lifted, but remained in force. All other measures Pristina has taken show it is creating unbearable living conditions for Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija," Drecun said.

He said Pristina's most recent move, a ban on the Serbian dinar, made it clear the Serbs would not be able to survive as they depended on financial support from the Serbian budget.

"The crucial thing here is the reaction from countries that can influence Pristina's behaviour and that have control over Kosovo-Metohija - they are the leading Western states and, unfortunately, they have said (Pristina's PM Albin) Kurti has the right to make such a decision but that its implementation must be delayed for a while, which will bring no substantial change," Drecun said.