Petkovic: Tripartite pact between Albania, Croatia, and Pristina is directed squarely against Serbia

The director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, has stated that military cooperation between Albania, Croatia, and Pristina threatens the stability of the Western Balkans region and pointed out that this tripartite pact is directed directly against Serbia.

Recommended

After a meeting between Croatia, Albania, and Pristina at the level of directors for defense policy and armaments, Petkovic stated that Serbia, as a militarily neutral country and the pillar of regional stability, is an obvious target of that tripartite pact and added that it is clear that cooperation between Croatia, Albania, and Pristina is not motivated by economic interests or the need to contribute to regional prosperity, but by malicious intentions.

"Albania and Croatia already belong to a larger military alliance (NATO) and as sovereign states they can cooperate as they wish, however the inclusion of Pristina in some formal security initiatives, contrary to the collective interests in the region and contrary to UN Security Council Resolution 1244 is a direct provocation and a move against vital Serbian state and national interests," stressed Petkovic.

He pointed out that the southern Serbian province of Kosovo and Metohija is a post-conflict area where peace and security are ensured by the international military presence, KFOR, and that this is a more than sufficient framework in which countries such as Croatia and Albania already participate.

"The formal inclusion of Pristina in some kind of defense and security arrangements is, however, a dangerous precedent and an open show of animosity towards Serbia as a peaceful and well-meaning neighbor," said Petkovic.

He added that Croatia and Albania, instead of investing in destabilizing the region, should make efforts to finally make the Western Balkans a zone of peaceful progress and prosperity and, in this sense, emulate the policy of peace and economic progress strongly advocated and implemented by Serbia.

The ministry of defense of the provisional institutions in Pristina and the Ministry of Defense of Croatia announced earlier on Tuesday that a meeting between Croatia, Albania, and Pristina at the level of directorates for defense policy and armaments was held in Zagreb, where they discussed opportunities for improving cooperation in the field of defense capabilities, interaction between defense industries and steps for further implementation of a memorandum on cooperation in the field of defense.

(Telegraf.rs/Tanjug)