"We are leaving for Washington ready for constructive discussion about economic issues"

Photo: Tanjug/Sava Radovanovic

The Serbian side is going to the meeting in Washington on September 4, ready for a constructive conversation, and will be open for talks about the economy, the director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Marko Djuric, said today.

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"The intention of the host to focus on the economy coincides with our position that for the purpose of joint development, free flow of people, capital, goods and services is needed in the whole region, along with removal of barriers and better economic connections," he told Vecernje Novosti in an interview.

He said that Pristina is ready to trample on its own laws, and that the international community must have the last word on behalf of its values when it comes to the endangering of the Serb shrines in Kosovo and Metohija.

"As a responsible nation, we will take measures to protect our heritage, and that is a priority for President Aleksandar Vucic," he said.

Photo: Tanjug/Dragan Kujundzic

Djuric added that KFOR would not be securing the holy places if there were no credible assessments that they are under threat.

"The Serbian shrines in Kosovo and Metohija will never be anything other than Serbian. That is not a topic for discussion at all," he said and added that some irresponsible individuals from Pristina are taking our churches and monasteries hostage in order to extort something from Belgrade.

Djuric assessed that the international community has shown unlimited capacity to cut slack to Pristina in the past.

"I believe that the position of our Church and the safety of our cultural and spiritual heritage in Kosovo and Metohija is also on the other side of permissible for Brussels, because, if nothing else, this is about European Christian and world cultural heritage," he said.

Photo: Tanjug/Dragan Kujundzic

Commenting on Hashim Thaci's statement that the vineyards in Orahovac are "Kosovo's Tuscany" Djuric said that Metohija was and will remain Serbian.

"Wine from the Orahovac vineyards was served in the courts of the Nemanjics (Serbian medieval rulers). According to legend, Tsar Dsan had a wine pipeline built from Velika Hoca to Prizren. Serbs in that area still produce the highest quality wines with love for the land of their ancestors, and celebrating Saint Trifun," he said, adding that some wineries there function with the support of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija.

(Telegraf.rs/Tanjug)