Djuric's assessment: Albanian leaders in Pristina are "slapping" US diplomacy

Photo: Tanjug/Dragan Kujundzic

The director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Marko Djuric, said today that it is not surprising that the United States wants a solution for the Kosovo problem and to have an active role in it, but that it is surprising how boldly the outgoing Pristina Prime Minister Albin Kurti and other Albanian leaders are "slapping the American diplomacy."

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Djuric assessed that there is no doubt that there is a conflict between the great powers around domination over the Albanian political forces in Pristina, and added that Serbia should not participate in that.

"It's up to us to preserve peace and, as we have done in the previous seven years, to use everything to strengthen the rest of Serbia, because by doing so we are strengthening our position in Kosovo and Metohija," Djuric told TV Happy.

He recalled Kurti's earlier statement that the agreement on the establishment of flights between Belgrade and Pristina does not exist and that he is not interested in it, stressing that Albanian leaders never make such statements without someone powerful standing behind them.

He also referred to the recent statement by US Congressman Eliot Engel that Vucic was suppressing Albanian interests in Kosovo and Metohija with an "iron fist," saying that it showed that Albanian lobbyists are nervous about Serbia's success in bringing about withdrawals of Kosovo recognitions and preventing Kosovo's membership in leading international organizations.

Djuric assessed that for two decades there had been "apparent harmony" among big western countries on the issue of Kosovo and Metohija, but that this has changed because Serbia has actively lobbied for withdrawals of the recognitions of Kosovo's independence.

Photo: Tanjug/Dragan Kujundzic

At the same time, he added, President Aleksandar Vucic put a lot of effort into conversations with the Trump administration and other political circles that were previously not ready to listen to Serbia's position.

Djuric said that Serbia had its own proposals and ideas for resolving the issue of Kosovo and Metohija, unlike in the past, when, he says, we only talked about what we did not want to achieve.

As he said, Serbia has worked hard on the ground to consolidate the Serb corps in the southern province through the Serb List, so that the foreign factor can no longer manipulate Serb politicians in Kosovo and Metohija, as was the case during previous authorities.

"We did not sit idly by, while Albanians deteriorated their image in the world, we built 1,700 houses for Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, during the epidemic we sent humanitarian aid to Kosovo and Metohija, we advocated for the free flow of goods, people and capital," said Djuric.

He welcomed the fact that the American and British ambassadors in Pristina have asked the authorities there to respect the decision of the Constitutional Court and return property to the Decani monastery, but said there is no illusion that a desire to legitimize the institutions in Pristina is a part of what's behind that.

(Telegraf.rs/Tanjug)