"Illegal formation in Serbian territory, do not join it"

"Illegal formation in Serbian territory, do not join it"

Djuric's complete address reads as follows:

"The parliament of the provisional institutions of self-government in Pristina today, without the participation of Serb representatives, based on the mono-ethnic diktat of the Albanian majority in Kosovo and Metohija, and contrary to all applicable provisions of domestic and international public law, decided to form the so-called Kosovo army. The decision is an act against peace and an act of political aggression against our country, which aims to round off the process of the violent separation of a part of the territory of the Republic of Serbia, and the creation of an Albanian independent state, the so-called 'Republic of Kosovo', throughout the territory of the AP (Autonomous Province) Kosovo and Metohija. Considering that the decision on its establishment has been made contrary to the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Serbia, contrary to the provisional constitutional framework of Kosovo, but also contrary to UN (Security Council) Resolution 1244 and the Kumanovo Military Technical Agreemen, which ended the armed conflict in Kosovo and Metohija in 1999, the so-called Kosovo army represents an illegal occupying armed formation in the territory of the Republic of Serbia.

The illegal and separatist character of this illegal occupying formation is clear and unambiguous. The decision to form it is aimed at violently changing the borders of our country and violating the position of our southern province established by the Constitution and international acts. All this, in conditions where precisely because of the attempts at a unilateral and violent imposition of (Kosovo's) status, a compromise solution for the regulation of relations between Belgrade and Pristina, i.e., between Serbia and the Serbs and political representatives of the Kosovo-Metohija Albanians, is still not available. The co-called Kosovo army ia also being formed at a time when no Albanian has been held responsible in a court of law for the thousands of killed and missing, the hundreds of thousands of expelled citizens of Serbia during and after the armed conflict in Kosovo and Metohija, and the numerous other crimes committed precisely by illegal Albanian armed formations.

The so-called Kosovo army is also being formed with public and open political, material and logistical support of certain states, who two decades ago committed an armed aggression against our country, during which thousands of civilians were killed, and who, by their actions in the previous period, are still those most responsible for the situation in Kosovo and Metohija. Citizens of Serbia should know that these countries are the most responsible for this decision of the parliament of the provisional institutions in Pristina. In this, very difficult day for Serbia, I want to say to the representatives of these countries that the people of Serbia will never forget their actions, and their support for the formation of the so-called army of Kosovo. Citizens of Serbia and the Serb people perceived it as a profound insult that will leave permanent and indelible consequences. At the same time, we will not forget the support and friendship of those who have stood with us in our difficult times.

International missions in Kosovo and Metohija are not and cannot, under any excuse, be amnestied from their contractually defined obligation to prevent operation of illegal armed groups of Kosovo Albanians in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija. We demand from KFOR not to allow the operation of the illegal 'army of Kosovo' in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija and to disband it, within the framework provided by (UNSC) Resolution 1244. Anything else would mean direct support to an unlawful activity with the aim of occupying and forcibly separating a part of the territory of the Republic of Serbia, which represents an unlawful activity and is punishable under international law, and the regulations of the Republic of Serbia.

I call on citizens of the Republic of Serbia - (ethnic) Albanians, Serbs and all others - not to join the ranks of the illegal occupying armed formation, the co-called army of Kosovo. Criminal offenses against the constitutional order and security of the Republic of Serbia are punishable by long-term and severe sentences. The authorities and security services of the Republic of Serbia are tasked with establishing the identity of persons joining the illegal armed formation, the co-called Kosovo army, and depriving them of liberty whenever they become available to them, while the competent judicial authorities have an obligation defined by the Constitution and laws to punish these persons and remove them from their environment, at the moment when such persons become available to the competent authorities.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, together with the government and the competent services, will continue to undertake the appropriate and necessary steps, established by the Constitution and laws, to preserve peace, security and survival of our people in Kosovo and Metohija. Serbia is oriented towards peace, future and development. We believe in a political, rational and compromise solution for all problems inherited from the past, but we have not and will not, at any cost, allow our people in Kosovo and Metohija to be overrun, persecuted and turned into anyone's slaves."