Minister says Kosovo "makes him want to slap someone"

Interior Minister Ivica Dacic says that crime in northern Kosovo, whatever it may be, is "small time" compared to crime in Pristina. The deputy Serbian PM also wondered about "the border between Kosovo and Albania", and whether the international community "really thinks our intelligence is so low". Minister says Kosovo "makes him want to slap someone" "We are a cultured people, but sometimes I really feel like slapping someone because of the brazen attempts to make us look crazy and stupid," the minister said in Belgrade on Monday. "The story about transfers of cigarettes and oil via northern Kosovo is nothing compared to the story about other crossings, where weapons and bombs go through, where, in other words, a much more dangerous type of smuggling is taking place," Dacic said, commenting on "excuses given by the international community" about why "the problem of crime must be solved in the north". "What is happening is an attempt to artificially create an image about the problem of northern Kosovo, when the problem is the fact that Serbs do not wish to live under the rules of the (Kosovo Albanian) Pristina government," he said. “All efforts should be invested into activities that would protect the state's interests in the best possible way,” Dacic continued. The minister believes that Serbia "wasted many years in trying to save first the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, then the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, then the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro, while at the same time disregarding the protection of its own national interests". “It is evident that the solutions presented so far have not yielded practical results,” Dacic said at the Palace of Serbia. Warning that one more opportunity could be missed, Dacic said that Serbia has to admit the mistake of not coming up with a proposal that would resolve the Kosovo issue in an acceptable manner. “The issue of Kosovo is not the problem of this generation alone, but rather a whole range of generations whose ideas in hindsight proved inefficient,” Dacic said. Therefore, politicians should not strive for being the authors of “a fairy tale”, but rather pursue a policy grounded in reality, Dacic concluded. Ivica Dacic (FoNet, file)

Minister says Kosovo "makes him want to slap someone"

"We are a cultured people, but sometimes I really feel like slapping someone because of the brazen attempts to make us look crazy and stupid," the minister said in Belgrade on Monday.

"The story about transfers of cigarettes and oil via northern Kosovo is nothing compared to the story about other crossings, where weapons and bombs go through, where, in other words, a much more dangerous type of smuggling is taking place," Dačić said, commenting on "excuses given by the international community" about why "the problem of crime must be solved in the north".

"What is happening is an attempt to artificially create an image about the problem of northern Kosovo, when the problem is the fact that Serbs do not wish to live under the rules of the (Kosovo Albanian) Priština government," he said.

“All efforts should be invested into activities that would protect the state's interests in the best possible way,” Dačić continued.

The minister believes that Serbia "wasted many years in trying to save first the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, then the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, then the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro, while at the same time disregarding the protection of its own national interests".

“It is evident that the solutions presented so far have not yielded practical results,” Dačić said at the Palace of Serbia.

Warning that one more opportunity could be missed, Dačić said that Serbia has to admit the mistake of not coming up with a proposal that would resolve the Kosovo issue in an acceptable manner.

“The issue of Kosovo is not the problem of this generation alone, but rather a whole range of generations whose ideas in hindsight proved inefficient,” Dačić said.

Therefore, politicians should not strive for being the authors of “a fairy tale”, but rather pursue a policy grounded in reality, Dačić concluded.