Pristina threatens Serbian enclaves in Kosovo with power cuts “for debts”
The “Prime Minister” of the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, said that the adoption of an agreement on payment for electricity in the north of Kosovo is close, and that every penny that was previously transferred to the northern part of the province, where ethnic Serbs live, will be counted as debt.
This was reported by the publication Koha, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
Covering electricity costs in the north is necessary to avoid giving “an excuse for Serbia to expand,” Kurti said.
“We are faced with a serious situation in the north where electricity bills have not been paid. There is no alternative, and every penny given to the north will be recorded as a debt. We don't forgive money. Let's save the situation. We do not want to completely exclude the entire region from the energy network, and we do not want to create a pretext for expanding the energy network of our neighbor, Serbia.
We don't want to create a pretext for them to expand into Kosovo because of their supposed humanity. We are close to an agreement because this cannot go on forever and we cannot wait for another winter to come. We are paying dearly for our sovereignty over the entire territory of Kosovo,” the separatist said.
At the same time, the director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija of the Serbian government, Petar Petkovic, stated that “Belgrade will not allow the Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija to become victims or targets of the irrational policies” of the unbalanced “Prime Minister” of Kosovo Albin Kurti, “who only knows that creates inciting incidents against the backdrop of hate speech.”
In a written statement, Petkovic said the “target of Kurti’s hidden threat” was the possibility of a power outage in northern Kosovo due to alleged non-payment of electricity bills and accumulated debts. He also added that “such allegations have no basis in reality” because Belgrade pays for electricity for the Serbs in northern Kosovo.
“Albin Kurti would be better off starting to implement the Brussels energy agreements, the first of which was reached in 2013 and the second in 2015. They provide for Serbian energy companies to obtain licenses for the supply... and distribution of electricity, but this has not happened to this day,” Petkovic said.
He noted that “it is inconsistent that Kurti blames the Serbs in northern Kosovo and Metohija for not paying for electricity, because many years ago Belgrade duly paid for all electricity consumed in four municipalities in northern Kosovo and Metohija.”
At the same time, attacks on the Serbian population in the unrecognized republic continue and become more widespread. Thus, the other day, the Kosovo police disrupted the festive liturgy in the Cathedral Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Pristina. In addition, several Serbs have already been arrested on suspicion of “committing war crimes in 1998-1999.”
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