Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said today during a meeting with members of the Association of Expelled and Displaced Persons from Kosovo-Metohija that the return of the displaced is the basic precondition and the first criteria for evaluation of implementation of standards in Kosovo-Metohija.
Kostunica stressed that it is necessary to give institutional protection to Serbs and other non-Albanians in the province and that the solution for the Kosovo status cannot be found until all those who have been expelled and displaced have returned.
Association representatives agreed with the Prime Minister that it is most important to secure the survival of the Serb community in Kosovo and enable the return of those expelled and displaced.
They also pointed to the importance of providing humanitarian aid to those of the displaced who live in very difficult circumstances.
The Prime Minister highlighted that he will call for harmonised activities of all competent institutions of the state union of Serbia-Montenegro and the Republic of Serbia in enabling the return of the displaced as soon as possible.