Dacic comments on situation in Kosovo: "We said Kurti would be the one to set powder keg on fire"

Photo: Milena Djordjevic

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic said, regarding the clashes in Kosovo, that the leadership of Serbia had said the prime minister of the provisional institutions of Pristina, Albin Kurti, would be the one to set the powder keg on fire.

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"We are now getting to the point where those who oppose Kurti's terror and who do not accept an independent Kosovo are called terrorists. Prior to Serbia designating (Albanian) terrorist groups in 1999, between 300 and 400 (Serbian) policemen were killed in Kosovo and Metohija. Has anyone ever expressed condolences, from the international community," Dacic asked during his appearance on RTS.

He said that Serbs do not even have the right to peacefully express their dissatisfaction, while Albanians in Kosovo in the 1990s, according to the international community, had the right to take up arms against the Serbian authorities.

"We do not justify any violent actions, we regret the killing of a policeman, we regret the loss of Serb lives, we regret in general that such an incident occurred because it is not in the interest of Serbia, above all," the minister said.

Dacic added that this is one of the most difficult moments for Serbia since the 2004 pogrom of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija. He pointed out that the (Serbian Orthodox) monastery Banjska is located in the territory where Serbs live and added that 460 Albanian policemen with armored vehicles had no business being there.

"What is the so-called Kosovo police doing there? According to which article of an international act that is valid, and I mean (UN Security Council) Resolution 1244 or the Brussels Agreement, do they have the right to be there? According to Resolution 1244, the only military and security force that can be there is KFOR", explained Dacic.

The minister said that during Kurti's time in power, there have been unilateral moves and the terrorizing of the Serb people.

"All the time there are provocations, arrests, preventing Serbian goods from crossing the administrative line, even shooting at children, woundings and killings," said Dacic.

He added that so-called Kosovo was born out of the terrorist activities of the so-called KLA ("Kosovo Liberation Army").

"Has anyone reacted to the fact that at the funeral of the Kosovo policeman today, a KLA flag was displayed, and KLA is a terrorist organization. What was the KLA armed with, what did they wear, slogans and confetti, or did they carry weapons that were supplied to them by the Mujahideen and Western countries," said Dacic.

(Telegraf.rs/Tanjug)