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Kostunica sends letter to Patriarch Pavle
Belgrade,
4 October 2004
Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica sent a letter to Serbian Patriarch Pavle today, stressing that the failure to provide institutional guarantees for Kosovo-Metohija Serbs has deprived him of the right to call on the local Serb community to take part in the local election this autumn.
In a response to a letter in which Patriarch Pavle asked Kostunica not to invite Kosovo-Metohija Serbs to go to the polls, the Prime Minister said that he took the Patriarch's message as a sign of his deepest concern for the problems of local Serbs and the future of Kosovo-Metohija.
He also voiced his conviction that local Serbs are aware that the protection of Kosovo-Metohija and the defence of their basic rights call for a unanimous position on the election.
Over the past few years, efforts were made to accomplish these goals through Serb participation in local elections and their representation in Kosovo-Metohija interim institutions, said Kostunica, but added that there has been no feedback on these gestures of goodwill and confidence.
The Prime Minister went on to say that through Serb participation in Kosovo-Metohija elections, the aim is to secure a peaceful and safe life for local Serbs in the province and to create conditions for their return. Instead, the world witnessed a pogrom on March 17, when Serbs were killed and driven away from their homes, he noted, stressing that the outbreak of violence showed that European and democratic standards and values do not apply to the position of Kosovo-Metohija Serbs.
Kostunica stressed that Serbia cannot ignore the lawlessness to which the local Serb community is exposed, but must make every effort to ensure that European and democratic standards and values apply to Kosovo-Metohija Serbs as well.
The Serbian Prime Minister said in the letter that Serbs and other non-Albanians should be given elementary human rights in order to take part in the truly democratic election.
As it became clear that Serbs and non-Albanians were deprived of their basic rights in the province following the March 17 events, the Serbian government demanded in its plan a political solution to the situation in Kosovo-Metohija such that the international community would provide concrete institutional guarantees for the Serb community, but these guarantees were not even granted on paper, Kostunica writes.
He recalled that the government is limited in its actions by the parliament that adopted the government’s plan on April 29, wherein Serbs would be encouraged to take to the polls in the province if the document was applied.
Therefore the government’s stand is utterly clear: as there are no institutional guarantees, he as the prime minister is not entitled to call on Serbs to vote.
The Prime Minister thanked Patriarch Pavle for the letter which the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church had sent, and expressed his deep respect for Patriarch’s concerns about the Kosovo-Metohija Serbs.
He also voiced his conviction that local Serbs are aware that the protection of Kosovo-Metohija and the defence of their basic rights call for a unanimous position on the election.
Over the past few years, efforts were made to accomplish these goals through Serb participation in local elections and their representation in Kosovo-Metohija interim institutions, said Kostunica, but added that there has been no feedback on these gestures of goodwill and confidence.
The Prime Minister went on to say that through Serb participation in Kosovo-Metohija elections, the aim is to secure a peaceful and safe life for local Serbs in the province and to create conditions for their return. Instead, the world witnessed a pogrom on March 17, when Serbs were killed and driven away from their homes, he noted, stressing that the outbreak of violence showed that European and democratic standards and values do not apply to the position of Kosovo-Metohija Serbs.
Kostunica stressed that Serbia cannot ignore the lawlessness to which the local Serb community is exposed, but must make every effort to ensure that European and democratic standards and values apply to Kosovo-Metohija Serbs as well.
The Serbian Prime Minister said in the letter that Serbs and other non-Albanians should be given elementary human rights in order to take part in the truly democratic election.
As it became clear that Serbs and non-Albanians were deprived of their basic rights in the province following the March 17 events, the Serbian government demanded in its plan a political solution to the situation in Kosovo-Metohija such that the international community would provide concrete institutional guarantees for the Serb community, but these guarantees were not even granted on paper, Kostunica writes.
He recalled that the government is limited in its actions by the parliament that adopted the government’s plan on April 29, wherein Serbs would be encouraged to take to the polls in the province if the document was applied.
Therefore the government’s stand is utterly clear: as there are no institutional guarantees, he as the prime minister is not entitled to call on Serbs to vote.
The Prime Minister thanked Patriarch Pavle for the letter which the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church had sent, and expressed his deep respect for Patriarch’s concerns about the Kosovo-Metohija Serbs.
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