Minister: Serbs have right to protect their interests

Serbia's Minister for Kosovo Goran Bogdanovic says nobody has the right to criticize Kosovo Serbs who are determined to peacefully defend their interests. “The citizens chose this kind of protest in order to show Pristina and the international community that they do not want to be integrated into so-called state of Kosovo by force and nobody has the right to criticize them for their pursuit that is fully legitimate,” he stressed. Minister: Serbs have right to protect their interests The minister has rejected claims made by a part of the international community that the protests in northern Kosovo are organized and led by criminals and repeated that the barricades are unnecessary after the agreement was reached in Brussels. “The story is deliberately exaggerated and it represents an attempt of certain lobbies from Pristina and the international community to present the people who are protesting peacefully as criminals who do not allow normalization of life in the north,” Bogdanovic underscored. The minister for Kosovo did not deny that there were certain criminal groups in the north but stated that it was unacceptable to classify the people who peacefully protested at the barricades as members of those groups and that they did not want the situation to be resolved because of their criminal activities. However, he advocated removal of the barricades because, as he said, there was no reason for their existence since the Belgrade-Pristina talks had continued and the agreement on the administrative crossings had been reached. “We should not expose ourselves to a risk of new conflicts that, as a rule, Serbian side will be accused of,” Bogdanovic explained. He once again condemned violence in Jarinje and Jagnjenica, stressing that any violent act by either side was unacceptable. “It is in nobody’s interests to spill blood or to put people in danger in any way,” the minister concluded. Goran Bogdanovic (Beta, file)

Minister: Serbs have right to protect their interests

The minister has rejected claims made by a part of the international community that the protests in northern Kosovo are organized and led by criminals and repeated that the barricades are unnecessary after the agreement was reached in Brussels.

“The story is deliberately exaggerated and it represents an attempt of certain lobbies from Priština and the international community to present the people who are protesting peacefully as criminals who do not allow normalization of life in the north,” Bogdanović underscored.

The minister for Kosovo did not deny that there were certain criminal groups in the north but stated that it was unacceptable to classify the people who peacefully protested at the barricades as members of those groups and that they did not want the situation to be resolved because of their criminal activities.

However, he advocated removal of the barricades because, as he said, there was no reason for their existence since the Belgrade-Priština talks had continued and the agreement on the administrative crossings had been reached.

“We should not expose ourselves to a risk of new conflicts that, as a rule, Serbian side will be accused of,” Bogdanović explained.

He once again condemned violence in Jarinje and Jagnjenica, stressing that any violent act by either side was unacceptable.

“It is in nobody’s interests to spill blood or to put people in danger in any way,” the minister concluded.