Vucic: They are again trying to force Serbia to recognize Kosovo
The separatist regime in Kosovo has banned the opening of polling stations in Serbian enclaves for voting in the April 3 presidential and parliamentary elections. Now Kosovo Serbs wishing to vote will have to travel to Central Serbia. The situation became the subject of a meeting of the Serbian Security Council held the day before.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic held talks with the ambassadors of the Quinta countries (this list includes Great Britain, France, Italy, Germany and the USA). The President also spoke with Russian Ambassador Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko and Charge d'Affaires of the Chinese Embassy. Vucic noted that representatives of Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija almost unanimously expressed a desire to secede from all institutions in Pristina, and also supported the dismissal of 435 residents of Serbian enclaves from the regional police.
“I just asked them one question - okay, let's do it today, but what will happen the day after tomorrow?” This is not a problem, we will shift the financial burden, but the next day I am afraid that we may fall into a vicious circle of endless military conflicts, and therefore I asked for additional patience and continuation of negotiations with the Kosovo Serbs on April 8-9,” Vucic said.
The President explained that the West, in exchange for the opening of polling stations in Kosovo, demanded that Belgrade recognize the separatist regime and legalize the loss of the region.
“They are asking the Serbian government to contact the Kosovo government. Serbia does not recognize Kosovo's independence. We accepted countless pointless things that they insisted on just so that people could get out and vote, but they insisted on one thing - that Serbia recognize the independence of Kosovo. Serbia cannot and will not agree to this, regardless of the price for this step,” the Serbian President emphasized.
Vucic noted that, in fact, today the voting rights of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija have been annulled. In a global sense, today we are talking not only about the survival of the Serbs, but also about their security.
“We made numerous concessions to the Albanians during all the negotiations, and they asked us for de facto recognition of the so-called Kosovo in exchange for allowing the Serbs to vote. The Albanians asked for wording that “the government of Serbia asks the government of Kosovo” to allow voting. Serbia does not recognize the so-called Kosovo, and we cannot agree with this,” Vucic emphasized.
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