Petkovic to McGurk: Belgrade expects OSCE's concrete moves to protect rights of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija

Printscreen: Tanjug News Agency

Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Petar Petkovic spoke today with the head of the OSCE Mission to Kosovo and Metohija, Gerard McGurk.

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They discussed the political and security situation in the southern province. Petkovic pointed out that Belgrade expects concrete moves to protect the guaranteed rights of Serbs and action towards the release of his assistant, Igor Popovic, and other political prisoners.

Petkovic told McGurk about a very unstable political and security situation in the province, especially after the arrest of Igor Popovic and a series of escalating moves made by Albin Kurti to the detriment of the Serb people, the Office for Kosovo and Metohija said in a statement.

Petkovic pointed out that by arresting Popovic, Pristina is directly endangering the process of normalization and the dialogue itself, which cannot resume as long as Popovic remains in a Pristina prison for no reason.

The Office director added that Popovic, as an excellent lawyer, actively participated in solving numerous issues through dialogue, and that by imprisoning him, Kurti went directly against the negotiations in Brussels.

Petkovic stressed that all basic human rights of Serbs are violated in Kosovo and Metohija every day, and that the arrest of Popovic also threatens the right to freedom of movement, thought and expression.

"His example is a clear demonstration of the absence of any rule of law in Pristina. Popovic demanded justice for all victims and punishment for criminals, and by arresting him (for that), Pristina showed that it has no intention of facing its criminal past," Petkovic stated.

He underlined that everything Kurti does is aimed at creating an ethnically cleansed Kosovo and Metohija by expelling Serbs, and because of this, Kurti carries out escalating moves on an almost daily basis that raise tensions and cause new crises on the ground, while trying to avoid the obligation to form the Community of Serb Municipalities (ZSO).

"Belgrade expects concrete and tangible moves from the OSCE mission to protect the guaranteed rights of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, but also action towards the release of Igor Popovic, as well as all other unjustly imprisoned Serbs, and will continue to insist on that," Petkovic concluded.

(Telegraf.rs/Tanjug)