Pellegrini: Incidents during Rally in Backi Petrovac Exaggerated, Not to Affect Relations with Serbia

Aleksandar Vucic (BETAPHOTO/Predsednistvo Srbije/Dimitrije Goll)

Slovak President Peter Pellegrini said on Dec. 22, following a meeting with his Serbian counterpart, Aleksandar Vucic, that incidents during a May 31 protest rally in Backi Petrovac were exaggerated, and would not affect the bilateral relationship.

The president said that due to previous engagements he would not meet with members of the Slovak ethnic community, who had sent an open letter earlier, requesting talks regarding the incidents during the protest really, when a group of citizens was prevented from joining the electoral assembly of Matica Slovacka, a central cultural and national institution of the Slovak minority in Serbia. Pellegrini also said that members of his delegation would speak with them instead.

The Slovak president said that representatives of the Slovak community he had met with stated that Slovaks in Serbia were not being denied their rights, and that political debates should not be degraded to a conflict between Serbs and Slovaks.

Pellegrini also said that the purpose of his meeting with Vucic was to address issues concerning the Slovak minority in Vojvodina, adding that Slovaks and Serbs had lived together peacefully for 280 years, and that he hoped this was reaffirmed at today’s meeting.

During the Dec. 21 visit, the Slovak president held separate meetings with President Vucic, Prime Minister Djuro Macut, and the Serbian speaker, Ana Brnabic. Prior to his arrival in Belgrade, he visited the Slovak KFOR contingent in Pristina, and met with KFOR Commander Ozkan Ulutas.