State will react to controversial monument, minister says

BUJANOVAC Serbian Defense Minister Aleksandar Vucic said on Sunday that the state would soon react to a controversial monument in the southern town of Presevo. He did not want to say exactly when the memorial honoring members of the so-called Liberation Army of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja (UCPMB) would be removed but stressed that nobody could act “unlawfully” and use ethnicity as an excuse. State will react to controversial monument, minister says “The Albanians have called for the internalization of the problem but it does not seem to me that it will go their way like it did in 2001 or 2002. They are not threatened here. There are some hotheads that think that as politicians they should threaten the state. We think that those are political phrases but we are completely ready to protect Serbia’s constitutional order,” the defense minister said during his visit to the Ground Safety Zone. He stressed that laws and the Serbian Constitution needed to be respected and that the state would “in accordance with that take the necessary steps” regarding the controversial monument in downtown Presevo. “We respect the position of the international community and they believe that this is Serbia’s internal issue. It is clear to everyone and it is completely obvious that they are out of line,” Vucic underscored. The councilors of the joint Albanian Presevo Valley assembly adopted a political declaration against the removal of the controversial monument and called on Albania to help get international institutions involved in resolving Presevo Valley issues. Commenting on the Resolution on Kosovo that was adopted by the Serbian parliament on Saturday night, the defense minister said he expected Serbia to help its citizens in Kosovo in more concrete manner, not just by adopting resolutions in parliament. According to him, the Resolution focuses on care for Serbs in Kosovo. However, Vucic noted that he was not a person who believed that a piece of paper would bring instant improvement. “We still need to do a lot of things so people could sense that the state of Serbia is caring for them but we need to show it more concretely and not just with parliamentary resolutions. I expect us to really do it in the future period. And our job is to provide better life to the people. We will make sure that this happens,” he underscored. Aleksandar Vucic (Tanjug) Beta Tanjug

State will react to controversial monument, minister says

“The Albanians have called for the internalization of the problem but it does not seem to me that it will go their way like it did in 2001 or 2002. They are not threatened here. There are some hotheads that think that as politicians they should threaten the state. We think that those are political phrases but we are completely ready to protect Serbia’s constitutional order,” the defense minister said during his visit to the Ground Safety Zone.

He stressed that laws and the Serbian Constitution needed to be respected and that the state would “in accordance with that take the necessary steps” regarding the controversial monument in downtown Preševo.

“We respect the position of the international community and they believe that this is Serbia’s internal issue. It is clear to everyone and it is completely obvious that they are out of line,” Vučić underscored.

The councilors of the joint Albanian Preševo Valley assembly adopted a political declaration against the removal of the controversial monument and called on Albania to help get international institutions involved in resolving Preševo Valley issues.

Commenting on the Resolution on Kosovo that was adopted by the Serbian parliament on Saturday night, the defense minister said he expected Serbia to help its citizens in Kosovo in more concrete manner, not just by adopting resolutions in parliament.

According to him, the Resolution focuses on care for Serbs in Kosovo. However, Vučić noted that he was not a person who believed that a piece of paper would bring instant improvement.

“We still need to do a lot of things so people could sense that the state of Serbia is caring for them but we need to show it more concretely and not just with parliamentary resolutions. I expect us to really do it in the future period. And our job is to provide better life to the people. We will make sure that this happens,” he underscored.