Vucic: Barricades will be removed

President Aleksandar Vucic was in the town of Raska last night where he spoke with Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija. The removal of the barricades will begin on Thursday morning and could take up to 48 hours, Vucic said. Serbs have shown last night that they are for peace and that they are ready for any kind of concession.

Vucic said that this cannot be done in two hours and that the barricades will be removed in 24 to 48 hours, but that distrust remains.

"The conclusions of the Serbs from the barricades are that if the arrests of Serbs continue, the north of Kosovo will be closed to Pristina institutions forever, they are looking for a clear confirmation that Kosovo will never be recognized in any form," said Vucic.

Vucic added that it has been shown that we should not have a lot of trust in the international community either, but that we must try to build trust and try to change something in our relations with international partners.

Vucic said this during a meeting with Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija, responding to the question of Zoran Todic, who resigned as president of the Provisional Authority of Leposavic Municipality, and who, among other things, said that Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija expected from the president to make sure, through discussions with representatives of the international community, that special Pristina police units do not stay in the north of Kosovo because that instills fear in the Serb people.

"The most important thing is that no one got hurt"

"When I presented to people that you managed to get the US and Europe to guarantee this paper that the people who were at the barricades will not be prosecuted, I was asked why there is no pressure on Pristina to pass a law on amnesty, and (they said) that Pristina does not guarantee it by law. The most important thing is that no one was hurt," said Todic.

Vucic replied: "You say that if Pristina does not pass a law on amnesty, Americans and European are enough for us? Are you trying to tell me that you trust Pristina more than Americans and Europeans, or are we looking for a reason to be against something? I'm just afraid is the latter."

He stated that it turned out we should not have a lot of trust in them, but that we must try to build some kind of trust and try to change something in our relations with international partners.

"When I came to explain the Brussels Agreement, I said that we would refer to it in a couple of years. Unfortunately for me, it happened because they were not capable of fulfilling the Brussels Agreement, but every agreement has always served the international community to use the what suits them, while avoiding what suits us," said Vucic.

No one at the barricades can be held responsible

He added that "there is nothing in the papers that binds us additionally."

"That is their problem, I don't know what they could use, there is nothing here that is our obligation. Here, finally, someone has listened to what the Serbs are saying, there is no problem for us, so even if they don't respect us, we are used to it, what else can we do, what is the other option? You talk about lists (to arrest Serbs), so that's the thing we wrote, that there are no lists, Americans and Europeans wrote it.

In addition, they wrote that everyone who was at the barricades will not be held responsible. It means that both you and we have succeeded in something, after all," said the president of Serbia.

Vucic said that he heard that the (Serb) Crisis HQ had prepared conditions for him that are very difficult for the state and said that if the answer about removing the barricades is negative, he must also be told what the plan is. He pointed out that he has a plan, but cannot present it in public.

"OK. But think again, just tell me what you get from it and what we get from it, and I told you about the 500 things what we are getting," Vucic said in Raska in conversation with Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija.

He stressed that there is not a single bad sentence for us in the document that needs to be agreed upon, on the contrary, there are many good sentences.

"That we are fed up is another matter," added the president of Serbia.

According to Vucic, he received a message that former policeman Dejan Pantic had arrived home. It is a significant symbolic victory. As he later added, Petar Petkovic spoke with Pantic, he is fine, he greets you all, said Vucic.

"I came here because I want to hear you. I will listen to your demands, I will stay with our people," said Vucic and invited both official and unofficial representatives of Serbs to speak.

Although, he added that he does not think that the day was bad for us, because the Serbs who were illegally arrested got released, and their relatives welcomed them, so you could see their tears of joy.

"I understand the Serb people in Kosovo and Metohija. Now, and when everything is achieved, almost everything that can be achieved, they will not be satisfied because they are dissatisfied with their position, because they do not know which country they live in...," Vucic said before the meeting with representatives of the Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija.

He said that he got the message that they don't trust Europe or America, and Kurti even less.

"I expect demands for me and for Serbia, will I accept what is rational and reasonable...? I believe that we have put some things on a formal legal level...," Vucic told Pin TV.

The president pointed out that the Serbs know that "we have something for the first time that does not relate to the Albanian and NATO side. For the first time, we in this KFOR act have a document which was signed by Rasmussen and Thaci before the Brussels Agreement."

"We have a document signed by Rasmussen and Thaci, we received today for the first time something that is a source of law for us and clearly stipulates the position of KFOR, that without KFOR and the approval of the Serb community, and even in the end of Serbia, Kosovo Security Forces (KSF) cannot be present in the north of Kosovo and Metohija," said Vucic, adding that this is a big deal.

He added that during these days and last night he had difficult conversations with international representatives who insisted on removing the word "barricades."

"If you remove the barricades, there is no agreement, we fought all night, the Serbs knew that, they listened all night, I did my best, I came with honor and a clear consicence, my job is to fight for them and I was always with them," said Vucic.

And, are you happy when you do everything, Vucic asked.

"How am I supposed to trust people who signed something 10 years ago and did not fulfill it. And what is our alternative...? To kill each other. We didn't hide for the first time, you know very well what is in this place from the complete General Staff and everything else. We are ready to help our people. It is not our goal not to keep the peace. I will accept every decision of the Serbs...," stated the president.

He stressed that for him Kosovo and Metohija will always be Serbia and will never be anything else, reports Tanjug. "They are my brothers and sisters and I will continue to fight for them," he added.

Asked what message he has for representatives of Serbs after the talks with representatives of the international community, Vucic stressed:

"They know everything, they know how difficult it is to talk. We are talking to people who are on their (Pristina's) side. Full stop. These are the people who do not respect (UN) Resolution 1244, who bombed this country, who do not respect this country...," said Vucic.

He said that he will say thank you countless times to Russia, which provides political support to Serbia, but their forces, he said, are not here. Thank you China and India, added the president and asked, but what will we do tomorrow.

"Is the General Staff of the Serbian Army, or of somebody else here? I said they (Serb representatives) should come with or without cameras...I said they can insult me, they said they won't insult me...," he said.

In the conversation with the Serbs, he was ready to answer all questions, that's why, he said, he had come.

"A pair of military pajamas have been prepared for me, so I will sleep here as well," said the president.

Filipovic: If we remove the barricades, they will hunt us like rabbits

Aleksandar Filipovic, until recently the head of (Kosovo police) operations in the north of Kosovo and Metohija, stated last evening during the meeting of Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija with Vucic in Raska that his opinion, as well as that of his fellow policemen, is that if the Serbs remove the barricades, they will be "hunted like rabbits."

Filipovic explained why the Serbs left (Pristina) institutions, stressing that law and justice do not exist in so-called Kosovo, that during the last year and a half the situation had become unbearable and that things came to a head with the arrival of special (Pristina police) forces.

He said there was no choice but to leave the institutions.

"We left the institutions because it was unbearable, we as Serb police officers could not change anything on the ground," Filipovic said.

He pointed out that Pristina has declared all Serbs to be criminals and said that a few months ago, the Kosovo police "fired 400 bullets chasing a truck" driven by a fellow (Serb) citizen who had a cargo of mineral water and beer in the vehicle, and that when he stopped and started to run away, they started shooting at him, "and when he fell they approached and (beat) him beyond recognition."

Filipovic, who was at the time still a member of the Kosovo police, said he sent his police officers, who told him that they knew who the man was, "but could not be (officially) identified because he was disfigured."

Tanjug reports that Filipovic added that the Kosovo police then stopped an ambulance transporting the man and demanded to know who called the medics, sending the ambulance back, preventing the victim from receiving medical help.

Filipovic said that the minister of police of the Pristina Provisional Institutions said afterwards this was a case of justified use of force.

"For us, there is no life here under these circumstances while the special thugs are in our territory, the northern part of Kosovo and Metohija is not the republic of Kosovo not nor will it be, they do not have any element of statehood in the north of the Kosovo and Metohija," said Filipovic.

He noted that while Kosovo special (police) forces are in the north of Kosovo and Metohija, the Serbs do not and will not live normal lives, no matter what guarantees they receive.

"My opinion is that if we remove the barricades, they will hunt us like rabbits," Filipovic said.

He thanked President Vucic, the ministers and the generals, stating that he knows what they are going through and what kind of pressures they are under, but added that he is convinced that the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija are "the bulwark of Serbdom."

Earlier in the evening, Vucic posted on his Instagram account "buducnostsrbijeav":

"Again on my way to Raska, where I will talk with the Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija. Knowing that they, until the final liberation, will never be satisfied with any decision, with a clear conscience and honor, I go before them, convinced that today is a good day for Serbia, that we preserved the peace and received guarantees for the safety and survival of Serbs. Whatever our people's decision is I will accept it, I will be with them and we will preserve Serb unity."

(Telegraf.rs)