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A:
Finding permanent solution to Kosovo issue
Belgrade/London,
9 January 2018
Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said that in the coming months Serbia will try to find a long-term solution to the issue of Kosovo-Metohija so as not to leave an open problem.
File photo of Ana Brnabic
Author:
Tanjug
In an interview with The Economist Radio, Brnabic pointed out that membership in the European Union is a permanent commitment and an important goal of Serbia, but that this European path is not promoted because of money, but because of the system of values.
Answering the comment of the reporter that this should also include Serbia’s position towards open issues such as the relations between Russia and Ukraine, Brnabic pointed out that in the past three years, Serbia has established a sincere policy, thanks largely to President Aleksandar Vucic.
Brnabic added that Serbia openly supports Ukraine, but it also has close ties with Moscow - traditional, religious, energy and economic ones - and that is why Russia is important to us as much as the European Union, which President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and Moscow know very well.
Asked about the Hague Tribunal and Srebrenica, the Prime Minister said that a horrible crime occurred in Srebrenica about which she feels bad, but that she does not think it was a genocide.
It was a horrible, horrible crime. It is hard for me to talk about it. That is a crime that makes me feel bad, for which I am ashamed because it was made on behalf of the Serbs, it is a crime that created an image of the Serbs that should not be created.
Brnabic said that the Serbs are not like that, that they are open, kind, cordial people, who do not judge someone by their orientation, but according to whether someone is a good or bad person.
She said that she does not think that the Hague Tribunal did justice and that it really contributed to reconciliation, but that she also does not agree with those who say that reconciliation was not the primary goal of the Hague Tribunal.
Brnabic assessed that horrific crimes were committed too in the operation “Storm” of the Croatian army and the police, when more than 250,000 people were expelled from Croatia and more than 2,000 killed, including a large number of disabled people and elderly people, but no one was held responsible and eventually all generals were released. Commenting on the remark that Bosnian Croats were convicted, she underlined that Bosnian Muslims were not, or members of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in Kosovo-Metohija, for whom it is impossible to say that they did not commit crimes against Serbs and other non-Albanians.
Answering the comment of the reporter that this should also include Serbia’s position towards open issues such as the relations between Russia and Ukraine, Brnabic pointed out that in the past three years, Serbia has established a sincere policy, thanks largely to President Aleksandar Vucic.
Brnabic added that Serbia openly supports Ukraine, but it also has close ties with Moscow - traditional, religious, energy and economic ones - and that is why Russia is important to us as much as the European Union, which President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and Moscow know very well.
Asked about the Hague Tribunal and Srebrenica, the Prime Minister said that a horrible crime occurred in Srebrenica about which she feels bad, but that she does not think it was a genocide.
It was a horrible, horrible crime. It is hard for me to talk about it. That is a crime that makes me feel bad, for which I am ashamed because it was made on behalf of the Serbs, it is a crime that created an image of the Serbs that should not be created.
Brnabic said that the Serbs are not like that, that they are open, kind, cordial people, who do not judge someone by their orientation, but according to whether someone is a good or bad person.
She said that she does not think that the Hague Tribunal did justice and that it really contributed to reconciliation, but that she also does not agree with those who say that reconciliation was not the primary goal of the Hague Tribunal.
Brnabic assessed that horrific crimes were committed too in the operation “Storm” of the Croatian army and the police, when more than 250,000 people were expelled from Croatia and more than 2,000 killed, including a large number of disabled people and elderly people, but no one was held responsible and eventually all generals were released. Commenting on the remark that Bosnian Croats were convicted, she underlined that Bosnian Muslims were not, or members of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in Kosovo-Metohija, for whom it is impossible to say that they did not commit crimes against Serbs and other non-Albanians.
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