“Terror group memorial will be removed by Jan. 17”

BELGRADE Serbian Prime Minister and Interior Minister Ivica Dacic has reiterated that authorities will remove a monument to a terror group by January 17. The memorial plaque, which was illegally built in the southern Serbian town of Presevo, honors members of the so-called Liberation Army of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja (UCPMB). “Terror group memorial will be removed by Jan. 17” Dacic told reporters late on Saturday that it would be good if an agreement was reached and added that Albanians from southern Serbia should remove the monument by themselves. He stated that in case they failed to do so, government bodies would act in keeping with the law. He recalled that the monument was not the only one built in southern Serbia to honor Albanian terrorists and noted that flags of the neighboring Republic of Albania were flying in Presevo and Bujanovac. “We are facing a situation in which ethnic Albanians and not Kosovo citizens are living in southern Serbia and a situation in which it is the Albanian flag that is flying in the area and not the Kosovo flag, which means that Albanians want to have two countries in the Balkans,” the Serbian prime minister said and underscored that this was contrary to logic and unacceptable. On December 31, Dacic announced that authorities would take down the monument in downtown Presevo, in which ethnic Albanians constitute the majority population, and underscored that monuments could not be built to honor members of terrorist organizations and those who were directly involved in the assassinations of police officers and soldiers. The controversial monument in downtown Presevo (Beta, file) Tanjug

“Terror group memorial will be removed by Jan. 17”

Dačić told reporters late on Saturday that it would be good if an agreement was reached and added that Albanians from southern Serbia should remove the monument by themselves. He stated that in case they failed to do so, government bodies would act in keeping with the law.

He recalled that the monument was not the only one built in southern Serbia to honor Albanian terrorists and noted that flags of the neighboring Republic of Albania were flying in Preševo and Bujanovac.

“We are facing a situation in which ethnic Albanians and not Kosovo citizens are living in southern Serbia and a situation in which it is the Albanian flag that is flying in the area and not the Kosovo flag, which means that Albanians want to have two countries in the Balkans,” the Serbian prime minister said and underscored that this was contrary to logic and unacceptable.

On December 31, Dačić announced that authorities would take down the monument in downtown Preševo, in which ethnic Albanians constitute the majority population, and underscored that monuments could not be built to honor members of terrorist organizations and those who were directly involved in the assassinations of police officers and soldiers.