Minister visits Kosovo returnees

Serbian Minister for Kosovo Goran Bogdanovic said that the government would set aside RSD 10mn for returnee farmers in the municipality of Istok. He was in Kosovo on Sunday commemorating nine years since the return of Serb refugees to their homes in Kosovo began. Minister visits Kosovo returnees “We intent to take care of 15 to 20 returnee families by starting up strawberry production. We analyzed what we can do and we decided to grow strawberries, which would be sold in Kosovo and abroad,” Bogdanovic said. The RSD 10mn would be given for the development of agriculture in the returnee villages. He visited the villages of Osojane, Zac and Dragoljevac. In Zac he sent a message to Albanians, stating that their neighbors, the Serb returnees, have offered their hands in reconciliation and that it is up to the Albanians to accept the gesture. “Our destiny is one in which we must live together or next to each other. The sooner we accept that the easier it will be for us,” he said. Bogdanovic said that the announcement that KFOR would be handing over security of Serb monasteries to the Kosovo police has made Serbs in Kosovo uneasy. “The conditions for doing something like this have not be achieved yet, and we are in constant contact with the Serbian Orthodox Church and working together. We will insist that the monasteries and churches that are surrounded by Albanian communities remain under the supervision of KFOR,” Bogdanovic said, adding that KFOR’s decision was a unilateral one. He said that all unilateral decisions are unsustainable, just like Kosovo’s unilateral proclamation of independence. “It is unsustainable to have a solution in which Albanians get everything and Serbs lose everything. That is like when who neglect one child and favor the other in a family. That is why we are insisting on dialogue and negotiations as well as a compromise,” Bogdanovic said. About 1,700 Serbs have returned to 13 villages in the municipality of Istok. According to the Kosovo Interior Ministry, Bogdanovic’s visit was approved by the Kosovo institutions and Bogdanovic was given a police escort for his visit to Kosovo.

Minister visits Kosovo returnees

“We intent to take care of 15 to 20 returnee families by starting up strawberry production. We analyzed what we can do and we decided to grow strawberries, which would be sold in Kosovo and abroad,” Bogdanović said.

The RSD 10mn would be given for the development of agriculture in the returnee villages.

He visited the villages of Osojane, Žač and Dragoljevac.

In Žač he sent a message to Albanians, stating that their neighbors, the Serb returnees, have offered their hands in reconciliation and that it is up to the Albanians to accept the gesture.

“Our destiny is one in which we must live together or next to each other. The sooner we accept that the easier it will be for us,” he said.

Bogdanović said that the announcement that KFOR would be handing over security of Serb monasteries to the Kosovo police has made Serbs in Kosovo uneasy.

“The conditions for doing something like this have not be achieved yet, and we are in constant contact with the Serbian Orthodox Church and working together. We will insist that the monasteries and churches that are surrounded by Albanian communities remain under the supervision of KFOR,” Bogdanović said, adding that KFOR’s decision was a unilateral one.

He said that all unilateral decisions are unsustainable, just like Kosovo’s unilateral proclamation of independence.

“It is unsustainable to have a solution in which Albanians get everything and Serbs lose everything. That is like when who neglect one child and favor the other in a family. That is why we are insisting on dialogue and negotiations as well as a compromise,” Bogdanović said.

About 1,700 Serbs have returned to 13 villages in the municipality of Istok.

According to the Kosovo Interior Ministry, Bogdanović’s visit was approved by the Kosovo institutions and Bogdanović was given a police escort for his visit to Kosovo.