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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

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International community must stop Albin Kurti’s provocations

Belgrade, 19 May 2023

Director of the Serbian government’s Office for Kosovo and Metohija Petar Petkovic said today that the international community has a responsibility to stop Prime Minister of the provisional institutions of Pristina Albin Kurti, who is trying to stage a war and conflicts in order to avoid forming the Community of Serb Municipalities.

Speaking at a press conference in the Serbian government, Petkovic pointed out that today began the occupation by Kurti and Erden Atic, who is so-called mayor of the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, and that for Serbs what is displayed on the municipal building is not a flag.

The Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija emphasised that it is clear that Atic, who took the oath today and assumed the post of Mayor of Kosovska Mitrovica, has no legitimacy since the elections were not legitimate either.

We have 45,000 registered voters in the north of Kosovo and Metohija, and a total of 1,567 voted, of which 13 were of Serbian nationality, he specified and added that practically it was only 11 people, because two of them were elderly people who did not know what kind of elections they were going to.

He stated that the talks between President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic and EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue Miroslav Lajcak are under way, adding that the President of the Republic warned of all the consequences of Kurti's behaviour and provocations, which could turn into a new crisis.

Petkovic pointed out that the temporary institutions in Pristina want to expel the Serbian people and most openly provoke war, and stated that the Serbs from the north of Kosovo and Metohija have given Kurti a deadline until 1 June to stop the provocations, and that their response will follow after that.

We will see what the answer will be. We will stand by our people and will do everything to avert a conflict, Petkovic stated and recalled that there is a security vacuum in Kosovo and Metohija at the moment, which was created because the Serbs left the institutions due to harassment and refusal to form the Community of Serb Municipalities.

He underlined that the very presence of special ROSU units in the north of the province is illegal, adding that KFOR and EULEX have a great responsibility in this security vacuum.

Petkovic also said that the Kosovo police today confiscated the KM licence plates of miner Predrag Milanovic, who was returning from the third shift at the “Crnac” mine, under the pretext that he is using illegal licence plates and fined him €150.

According to him, this move is the beginning of a new phase of Kurti’s illegal decision on re-registration of vehicles with KM license plates, which is in breach of all agreements.

Petkovic reiterated that these are legitimate and legal license plates issued by the authorities of the Republic of Serbia, assessing that such moves by Pristina and the Kosovo police are inadmissible.