Petkovic: Kurti main threat to regional stability

BELGRADE - The head of the Serbian government Office for Kosovo-Metohija Petar Petkovic on Tuesday dismissed as "pointless and cynical" Pristina PM Albin Kurti's constant attempts to point to Belgrade as an excuse for militarisation of Kosovo-Metohija and systematic threats to the rights and the security of Serbs in the province.

It is clear to everyone Kurti's regime and his ideology are the only and the main threat to regional stability, Petkovic said in a written statement.

"What Kurti and ideologically like-minded people are doing to Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija comes from the sheerest chauvinism and unprovoked hatred, to which Belgrade has never responded with hatred and threats, but only in a restrained and responsible manner, persevering in putting out fires Kurti has been trying to start," Petkovic said.

"Not even the sponsors of Pristina separatists believe in Kurti's fairytales about an angry and aggressive Serbia because, through both political and economic results, Serbia has demonstrated that is a successful state and an axis of progress across the region," Petkovic added.

Daily attacks on Serbs and their property in Kosovo-Metohija are not a reaction because ethnic Albanians and members of any other ethnic group are not treated in the same way in central Serbia, he noted.

"So, Kurti does not need arms and the so-called Kosovo Security Force to defend himself from threats from Belgrade but to carry out his plan of ethnic cleansing in Serbia's southern province. We live in times when peoples in our region strive to cooperate and want prosperity and a predictable future, and the sole obstacle to building such a region is Kurti and his malignant political influence," Petkovic said.