Odalovic: The situation in the north of Kosovo sets us back to 2013

Photo: Nedim Grabovica / Avalon Editorial / Profimedia, Tanjug/AP

The president of the Commission for Missing Persons, Veljko Odalovic, has said that the recent events in the north of Kosovo reset the situation to 2013 and that Kurti, who said that the Community of Serb Municipalities (ZSO) will not be formed, is responsible for that.

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He indicates that Serbia once again showed that it is in favor of compromise and the implementation of the Brussels Agreement, but that Albin Kurti continues with provocations in the north of Kosovo, with the desire to cause an incident.

"Serbia has tried everything to lower this announced escalation and these tensions raised by Kurti and to be a constructive partner in the dialogue, even though it is very difficult to reach an agreement with Kurti on anything. There are some good things in anything bad, the first is that Serbia has confirmed its constructive approach and the search for a peaceful solution. It's good that the European Union has finally identified Kurti as someone who is not ready to compromise and is not ready to look for a solution, but stubbornly and persistently rejects everything that is his obligation," Odalovic told RTS.

The third moment is important, adds Odalovic, and that is that Kurti still had to listen to someone, to postpone the implementation for those 48 hours and give himself some space in which he could above all look for a strategy.

"Whether it's today's meeting in Brussels where the main negotiators of Belgrade and Pristina, Petar Petkovic and Besnik Bislimi, will meet with the European Union's special representative for dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, I don't know. It's possible that he gave Bislimi some other guidelines. But if Bislimi is going there with what Kurti went to Brussels with, that's another big problem," says Odalovic.

The deadline is running out, Odalovic stresses, we will see how all this will unfold today, the most important thing is that there is no escalation and that there have been no incidents during this time.

"But in any case, the solutions were on the table and President Vucic offered related to the license plates themselves and the mention of those, let's call them status-neutral KS plates, as one of the solutions that would certainly give Kurti an honorable way out of this whole story if he's ready to look for a solution. If he's ready to create problems and that's unacceptable for him, that's a new challenge," assessed Odalovic.

He pointed out that the deployment of special forces from Pristina is a form of additional pressure and harassment of the Serbs in the north, and a provocation with the desire to cause an incident.

"Kurti sent a large police force to the north of Kosovo with the aim of raising tension, creating a sense of insecurity among the Serbs, and in any case, the moment he decides to go for implementation by force, he will have no choice but to have some forces. I think that this is something that unfortunately neither KFOR nor those who are responsible have reacted to. It was signed, it was agreed, it is clear that the forces of ROSU and those special units cannot go to the north of Kosovo without the consent of the commander of KFOR," Odalovic stressed.

(Telegraf.rs)