Office for Kosovo and Metohija reacts to unrest in Kosovska Mitrovica: EU's Lajcak has been informed

The director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, assessed that this morning's operation of the Kosovo police represents another provocation by the prime minister of the Provisional Institutions in Pristina, Albin Kurti, and comes ahead of local elections.

Petkovic added that he has informed EU Special Rapporteur for (Belgrade-Pristina) Dialogue Miroslav Lajcak about it.

The Kosovo police raided and searched a city pharmacy, businesses, homes, warehouses in North Mitrovica to check customs documents.

Petkovic told TV Happy that such behavior on the part of Pristina has gone too far and added that Kurti is trying to deepen the crisis with every move he makes.

"While we are solving everything through dialogue, you have Kurti and others who are solving things through crises in order to occupy the north of Kosovo, which is their obsession. They are trying to criminalize the north," said Petkovic and added that authorities in Pristina are trying to compensate for the humiliation they suffered with the last agreement reached in Brussels.

Petkovic also explained that Pristina's searches of pharmacies and warehouses show that it is violating all agreements, that dialogue is not important to them and that they are trying to gain points before the elections.

"One day after the other, especially after the agreement and the withdrawal of Rosu from Jarinje and Brnjak, Pristina has been inventing and creating new crises, inventing non-existent problems in order for the police to invade the north of Kosovo and Metohija. They are doing that in the last week before the elections. Kurti is doing it deliberately and trying to create fresh unrest because the unilateral moves he tried to pull off failed and now he is turning to plan B, C, etc.," said Petkovic.

According to him, people can no longer tolerate Kurti's terror but he appealed on Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija to remain restrained and not react to provocations.

"Our people know very well that they have a strong state of Serbia and President Aleksandar Vucic who stands by his people. It is of crucial importance that we go to the polls and keep the 10 (Serb majority) municipalities," said Petkovic.

Speaking about the statements made by Kurti, and by the president of the provisional institutions, Vjosa Osmani, about the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement held in Belgrade earlier in the week, Petkovic said that their reaction shows they cannot stand the fact that Belgrade has organized such an important gathering.

"She (Osmani) never saw as many statesmen as we welcomed here even in pictures," said Petkovic.

(Telegraf.rs)