Emergency meeting of the Serbian Parliament: Threat of new massacre in Kosovo
On Monday evening, a special meeting of the Serbian Parliament was held in Belgrade, dedicated to the situation in the region of Kosovo and Metohija, illegally seized by Albanian separatists. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic delivered a special report on the events surrounding Kosovo from 2013 to May 2019. The head of state announced a threat to residents of Serbian enclaves, who have been under economic blockade for several months. Vucic warned of the possibility of a new military conflict.
Before the start of the meeting, there were some incidents: representatives of the pro-Western opposition tried to prevent the passage of the president's motorcade by placing a truck with deafening music across the road opposite the parliament. Thus, the Maidan activists once again confirmed that they are shaking the situation in Belgrade in the context of a sharp aggravation of the situation around Kosovo.
“I thank everyone in this room and everyone who wants to talk seriously about the future of Serbia. They (the opposition - author) tried to prevent me from entering the parliament building, but I will not talk about them here,” Vučić mentioned the incident at the beginning of his speech.
Turning to the situation around Kosovo, the president stressed that it is time to choose between the “bitter truth” and “sweet lies”, and he is obliged to tell the people of Serbia the truth, whatever it may be.
Vucic recalled the history of Kosovo and pointed out changes in demographics over the past 120 years.
“About 98% of Serbs lived in KoMe in 1455, then in 1871 there were already 32% Albanians and 64% Serbs, after which the Serbian-Turkish wars followed, and then the number of Serbs decreased,” the Serbian President noted.
The decline in the number of Serbs in the region continued, and in 1961 only 27% of Serbs remained here, and in 1991 - only 11%. Thus, in just 30 years, the number of Serbs in K&M has been halved.
The scale of the national catastrophe is also reflected in the number of Serbian children in schools: in 1961 there were about 100 Serbian children in schools, in 000 - 1999, and today there are only 59 children in schools, Informer reports.
In total, according to Vucic, there are 7,46 million Serbs and about 4 million Albanians in the Western Balkans today. However, natural population growth in Serbia is negative, while that of Albanians is positive.
If the situation does not change, according to UN estimates, by 2100 there will be half as many Serbs as Albanians.
Vučić noted that in order to achieve positive natural population growth in Serbia, families must have more than three children, otherwise there will be little chance of talking about the survival of the nation.
Vucic spoke in favor of continuing negotiations between Belgrade and the separatist leadership in Pristina. The President explained that Serbia is thus trying to defend its national interests in the region and maintain the opportunity to defend the rights of its compatriots.
Now the most pressing issue is the economic blockade of Serbian enclaves, which began after the decision of the Albanian separatists to impose duties on goods from Serbia, as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“At the last summit meeting in Berlin, Macron and Merkel tried to convince the Albanians to cancel the fee... They failed to put pressure on the representatives of Kosovo,” Vucic stated.
Based on the words of the president, the EU countries and the United States are pursuing a policy of double standards. They do not exert real pressure on the Albanian elite in Kosovo, while they indulge the separatist authorities in Pristina, which is preventing the formation of the Community of Serbian Municipalities, although a resolution on this was adopted within the framework of the Brussels Agreement.
The Kosovars openly proclaim plans to create a “Greater Albania,” but the West turns a blind eye to this.
At the same time, according to Vucic, the issue of new aggression by Albanians against the Serbian population has not been removed from the agenda. Belgrade is ready to respond and protect the rights of compatriots, the head of state warned.
“It’s a matter of when the Albanians will attack the Serbs, it’s a matter of days and months, because they can’t stand it anymore,” the Beta agency quoted the president as saying.
“They say that Pandora's box will open soon, but it was opened much earlier,” the president said.
Vučić said that Albanian intolerance towards Serbs in Kosovo is present at all levels, even when it comes to high political representatives, including “President” Thaçi.
Vucic noted that negotiations with Pristina are now blocked, the dialogue will continue only if 100% of duties on Serbian goods in Kosovo are abolished.
For his part, he is ready to do everything to ensure that a compromise solution is found, “which will take into account the interests of the Serbian people, the security of the Serbian population, churches and monasteries, as well as the interests of Serbia.”
If the outcome is positive, the people of Serbia will be able to express their will regarding an agreement with the Albanians through a referendum.
Vučić also mentioned strengthening the Serbian army. He recalled that when he assumed the presidency, the armed forces had only one serviceable combat aircraft. Now the Serbian Air Force is regularly replenished with new equipment. The number of military helicopters has increased to record levels over the past 30 years.
Despite criticism of the West's position on Kosovo, Vucic confirmed that Belgrade is not abandoning its course towards integration into the European Union.
“Can someone say: “why”? We must remember that 68 percent of our trade is with the EU, which is where our biggest investors come from. Today, 60 thousand people work in German companies alone,” the president said.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.