Vucic Asks Kosovo Albanians to See Reason

Aleksandar Vucic (BETAPHOTO/EMIL VAS/EV)

On July 31 Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic asked the Kosovo Albanians and the powerful countries that recognize Kosovo to keep the peace, and said that if the harassment of local Serbs began, Serbia would win.

"I can call the Albanians today to their senses and call on Serbs not to fall for [provocations] and not do anything that leads to conflict. I am also asking representatives of the powerful and big countries that recognize Kosovo's independence to stick to international law a little and not let their proteges cause a conflict. That is my request, my big request, but I will say right away, there will be no surrender and Serbia will win, if they dare to begin persecuting, harassing and killing Serbs, Serbia will win," said Vucic.

Regarding Pristina's decision to issue certificates to citizens who have Serbian documents and start reregistering cars with Serbian license plates as of Aug. 1, Vucic said that the situation was very complicated for the Kosovo Serbs and that it had never been more complex than it was now. He went on to say that since Albin Kurti's coming to power there had been 2,006 incidents against Serbs in Kosovo, and that there were 50 percent more attacks.

For his part, Kurti said there was no possibility of a destabilization of the situation in Kosovo after the start of the implementation of a decision on reciprocity with Serbia with regard to documents. "There are many politicians and officials on the political scene who are leaders of fear and intimidation. Peace, democracy, the rule of law have no alternative, and I want, I believe and I am working on everything going smoothly tomorrow," said Kurti.