The situation in Kosovo: on Vucic’s command, the Serbs capitulated and are removing the barricades
The Serbs of Kosovo and Metohija (K&M) have decided to remove the barricades in the north of the region, the process will begin on December 29 and will last from 24 to 48 hours.
This was stated by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic after a meeting with representatives of Kosovo Serbs, held in the Serbian city of Raska near the administrative border of Kosmet, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
The meeting took place on the night of December 28-29, behind closed doors, on the territory of one of the military units. After its completion, Aleksandar Vucic said:
“The removal of the barricades will begin tomorrow morning, it is not easy and cannot be completed in two hours, as some imagined. Whether in 24 or 48 hours, the barricades will be removed, but the mistrust will not be eliminated. Those who think that they can play with the lives and survival of the Serbs should know that since we did not allow it now, we will all allow it together in the future.”
Vučić read out an appeal from the crisis headquarters from the barricades. In it, Kosovo Serbs asked Vučić for future support because they “don’t believe in Kurti” [the “Prime Minister” of the self-proclaimed “Republic of Kosovo”] and put their hopes on Belgrade.
“If the arrests and continuous terror against the Serbian people continue, we will forever close the north of Kosovo to the discriminatory institutions of Pristina. Then we will build barricades that will never be removed, and this will be a border for Pristina that it will never cross,” the document says.
In addition, one of the demands of the Kosovo Serbs is confirmation that the “Republic of Kosovo” will never be recognized by Serbia. They said that the word of the Serbian president is the “only guarantee” for the Serbs.
“As for the last question, it is simple for me. I swore on the Constitution of Serbia and Miroslav's Gospel, and I will not break my oath. I respect UNSCR 1244 and public international law,” Vučić said.
Let us recall that, according to this resolution, Kosovo and Metohija is a Serbian autonomous province.
Vučić said that there is a certain document, which, according to him, sets out guarantees from the EU and the United States that those who were at the barricades will not be persecuted and arrested, and security forces of the “Republic of Kosovo” will not appear in the north of the region without the permission of the locals authorities.
“This is written unequivocally,” said the Serbian President.
It is worth noting that the so-called “Brussels Agreement” with Pristina, signed by the Dačić-Vučić government in 2013, clearly states that a Community of Serbian Municipalities (SSM) should be created on the territory of Kosmet. This has not yet been done, and the creation of the SSM was one of the demands of the Kosovo Serbs on the barricades.
The speeches of the Serbs themselves from Kosmet at the meeting with Vucic are known only from reports distributed by the press service of the Serbian President. It seemed that this was a clearly orchestrated event, where those who supported the continuation of the protests were portrayed as warmongers.
For example, in response to the words of former policeman Aleksandar Filipović that if the Serbs remove the barricades, the Albanians will catch them one by one like birds with one stone, Vucic replied:
“Before we fight, let's talk. Every day of peace we win now will give us a better chance in the future. That is why we must be tolerant and patient, but be determined, like you are now, and continue to enable our people to live with dignity.”
The feeling of a pre-planned scenario was strengthened by the fact that it was during the meeting that Vucic announced that the previously detained Serb Dejan Pantic had been taken to Kosovo Mitrovica, where he would remain under house arrest.
How this was done is unknown, since Pantic has been at the Kosovo Police base since December 10 next to the Jarine checkpoint, the road from which to the city is blocked by barricades. Actually, their installation was a response to the detention of Pantic.
It is known that most of the Kosovo Serbs at the meeting with the President of Serbia were functionaries of the Serbian List party, which is formally called upon to represent the interests of the Serbs of the region before the authorities in Pristina. These people felt great in the power structures of the “Republic of Kosovo” after 2013, and only left them in November 2022.
In turn, their competitors from the Party of Kosovo Serbs (PKS) said on December 29 that “if anyone sees a Serb victory in sending one person under house arrest, then this person is blind.”
It is worth noting that Dejan Pantic is under house arrest awaiting trial on charges of “terrorist act”, for which he could be sentenced to even 10 years in prison.
“Anyone who still believes that they defended Serbia and the Serbian people on the barricades must open their eyes in the next 48 hours and realize that it was all a lie. People were insulted, forced to leave their jobs, to freeze on the barricades for 19 days, risking the safety of all of us,” the PKS stated.
The real situation in the north of Kosovo and Metohija shows that the authorities in Pristina perceive the Serbian decision to remove the barricades as an opportunity to continue terrorizing the Serbian population of the region. Thus, on the morning of December 29, two Serb-owned trucks standing at one of the barricades in Kosovska Mitrovica were burned.
Как reported “PolitNavigator”, on December 28, the authorities of the “Republic of Kosovo” began to release detained Serbs.
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