“Conflicts and unilateral moves not solution”

Serbian Minister for Kosovo Goran Bogdanovic has condemned the incidents which occurred in northern Kosovo late on Wednesday. He added that conflicts and unilateral moves were not a solution to the situation in the southern Serbian province. “Conflicts and unilateral moves not solution” “We need to give a chance to the dialogue conducted in Brussels and we should do all we can to reach a compromise solution regarding the issue of administrative crossings Jarinje and Brnjak,” Bogdanovic told Tanjug, commenting on KFOR's attempt to remove the barricade from the Kosovska Mitrovica-Leposavic road in the village of Dudin Krs late on Wednesday. The incident left some 20 members of the international forces wounded and a new roadblock was promptly put up, and the minister believes it is symptomatic of KFOR to attempt to remove the block unilaterally despite all the talks conducted so far with representatives of northern Kosovo Serbs and the promise that the mission would not pull down the barricades. “The most important thing now is to preserve peace, since we have had enough of conflicts in the area,” he said and added that KFOR needed to understand that existing problems could not be resolved by force. “Instead, we need to sit down at the same table and talk, we need to have confidence in the people in the field,” the minister said. “If Serbs granted freedom of movement to KFOR, the mission should use this possibility and supply their units so that they could perform their tasks in northern Kosovo normally instead of trying to pull the roadblocks down forcefully before any tangible agreement is reached with representatives of Pristina,” he explained. The minister recalled that every conflict entailed a risk of people losing their lives or getting wounded. He called on KFOR and Kosovo Serbs to refrain from attempts to solve problems by force. “KFOR needs to guarantee safety to all Kosovo citizens,” Bogdanovic. According to him, Serbs are aware that barricades brought no good to anyone but they opted for this way to defend their legitimate interests. “However, if we manage to reach an agreement, there will be no reason for blocks to remain there,” the minister pointed out and added that KFOR needed to refrain from unilateral actions until that moment. “If we have been able to endure this over the past few months, there is no reason why we could not stand such efforts several weeks longer until the final agreement has been reached,” the minister noted. During the night, the event in Dudin Krs was coupled by a blast that hit northern Kosovska Mitrovica and caused damage to three vehicles, two of them owned by Albanians and one belonging to a Serb, but nobody was wounded in the incident. In the preliminary investigation, the police established that the explosive device used in the blast was bomb M75 but still have not established the motive or identified the suspects responsible for the blast. Goran Bogdanovic (Tanjug, file)

“Conflicts and unilateral moves not solution”

“We need to give a chance to the dialogue conducted in Brussels and we should do all we can to reach a compromise solution regarding the issue of administrative crossings Jarinje and Brnjak,” Bogdanović told Tanjug, commenting on KFOR's attempt to remove the barricade from the Kosovska Mitrovica-Leposavić road in the village of Dudin Krš late on Wednesday.

The incident left some 20 members of the international forces wounded and a new roadblock was promptly put up, and the minister believes it is symptomatic of KFOR to attempt to remove the block unilaterally despite all the talks conducted so far with representatives of northern Kosovo Serbs and the promise that the mission would not pull down the barricades.

“The most important thing now is to preserve peace, since we have had enough of conflicts in the area,” he said and added that KFOR needed to understand that existing problems could not be resolved by force. “Instead, we need to sit down at the same table and talk, we need to have confidence in the people in the field,” the minister said.

“If Serbs granted freedom of movement to KFOR, the mission should use this possibility and supply their units so that they could perform their tasks in northern Kosovo normally instead of trying to pull the roadblocks down forcefully before any tangible agreement is reached with representatives of Priština,” he explained.

The minister recalled that every conflict entailed a risk of people losing their lives or getting wounded.

He called on KFOR and Kosovo Serbs to refrain from attempts to solve problems by force.

“KFOR needs to guarantee safety to all Kosovo citizens,” Bogdanović.

According to him, Serbs are aware that barricades brought no good to anyone but they opted for this way to defend their legitimate interests.

“However, if we manage to reach an agreement, there will be no reason for blocks to remain there,” the minister pointed out and added that KFOR needed to refrain from unilateral actions until that moment.

“If we have been able to endure this over the past few months, there is no reason why we could not stand such efforts several weeks longer until the final agreement has been reached,” the minister noted.

During the night, the event in Dudin Krš was coupled by a blast that hit northern Kosovska Mitrovica and caused damage to three vehicles, two of them owned by Albanians and one belonging to a Serb, but nobody was wounded in the incident.

In the preliminary investigation, the police established that the explosive device used in the blast was bomb M75 but still have not established the motive or identified the suspects responsible for the blast.