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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Statement of Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica following the murder of Dimitrije Popovic in Gracanica

Belgrade, 5 June 2004

Another brutal murder took place in Kosovo last night. Again the victim was of Serb nationality, a 17-year old youth, Dimitrije Popovic. Serbs can no longer pay with their lives the right to live in a place where they were born, where their centuries-old roots are, where their homeland and their state is.

In that part of the Serbian state, the international community is in charge of peace and security. This tragic event is a clear proof of its misguided administration in Kosovo-Metohija. Not only is it incapable of securing a safe life for Serbs and other non-Albanians, but it wants to transfer its international community authorities to interim institutions in the province. In the meantime, individual or mass killings of Serbs, as on March 17 and 18, are taking place.

As we pointed out after the last pogrom in March we are simply pointing out the following:: the mechanisms of protection of Serbs in the province must be changed completely. In these conditions, only a substantial self-government of Serbs can guarantee their survival; the minimum of safety and return of the expelled to Kosovo-Metohija. UNMIK must recognise the true nature and task of its mission. The fire of ethnic hatred can no longer be put out by empty talks on a multiethnic Kosovo, because that fire devours the lives and hopes of Serbs remaining in Kosovo.

The Serbian parliament and government have given a proposal for a solution to the problem in Kosovo, much of which is confirmed by events day in and day out. Is it necessary to violently extinguish more Serb lives so that someone could be convinced of what is taking place before their own eyes every day? To put it simply, ethnic cleansing of Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija must be stopped, and that can be achieved only by giving them substantial autonomy.