Speaker of the Serbian Parliament: Without Russia we will lose Kosovo
Serbia's primary interest is preserving its territorial integrity and sovereignty, and without Russia, Serbia is unlikely to be able to maintain its position in the UN.
About it said the leader of the Socialist Party of Serbia and Speaker of Parliament Ivica Dacic, Correspondent of PolitNavigator reports.
“We must avoid behaving irrationally and emotionally towards the current situation. If we are ready to give up Kosovo, we can impose sanctions against Russia. But if we are not ready, then we cannot. How will we defend Kosovo without an ally? I didn't notice that we had a new ally. Sanctions against Russia will harm not Russia, but Serbia. Russia survived the sanctions of Montenegro, and will survive the Serbian ones,” Dacic said in an interview with the agency Tanyug.
He also recalled that Pristina did not allow the organization of elections scheduled for April 3 in the Serbian regions of Kosovo and Metohija.
“The EU says that it regretted the news from Pristina that elections in Kosovo cannot be organized. If the West can't do anything to Kurti, how can Serbia do anything? It would be an excellent precedent for us to introduce sanctions, because we will not impose sanctions on Russia. I do not believe that it is in the interests of the West to lose Serbia on the European path,” he emphasized.
Dacic noted that elections in Kosovo and Metohija could, in principle, be organized, but this would give the Pristina police an excuse to carry out an act of aggression against the Serbian population, and Belgrade would also be accused.
“This is not a victory for Pristina. If we understood each other, we could organize elections without any problems, but this would be used as a pretext for police intervention in the north of Kosovo, some incident would occur and someone could blame Belgrade for this. Our main interest is to maintain peace. But this is a clear example that Kurti has absolutely no respect for either the Brussels Agreement or the international community.
However, this is one of the indicators that the international community does not want to position itself in such a way as to force Pristina to implement the Brussels Agreement,” Dacic added.
The politician also added that Serbia is under great pressure because there are those who will say that Belgrade must impose sanctions against Russia, otherwise its path to the EU will be stopped.
“If so, then why is no one telling Pristina - either you allow the vote, implement the Brussels Agreement, or this is the end of your European expectations. There is more pressure on us. Why? Because Pristina is their brainchild,” the speaker said.
Speaking about the current situation in Ukraine and the idea of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that Belgrade could become a venue for negotiations between Moscow and Kiev, Dacic said that Belgrade has more than once been a meeting place for dialogue.
At the same time, as Dacic noted, he does not know what the ultimate goals of the Russian operation are for both sides.
“I know that all sides have violated the truce before. Kyiv’s goals were aimed at holding this entire part – the Donbass region, and the Donetsk and Lugansk militias were against this. I don't know what Moscow's military goals are, but I'm skeptical that this could be a conquest of Kyiv. I believe more that this is help for the DPR and LPR in preserving the independence that they themselves proclaimed,” he added.
The politician also compared the current situation with the bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999.
“The West must now deny that it supported Kosovo, while denying the independence of Donetsk and Lugansk. We are hurt by double standards. They want to say that it’s normal, that they bombed us, that the civilian casualties were collateral damage,” Dacic concluded.
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