Serbian official: US must completely clarify its position

Serbian official: US must completely clarify its position

He told Serbia's public broadcaster RTS over the weekend that the US position on Kosovo is crucial - "whether they want a compromise solution or will continue pressure on Belgrade to recognize Kosovo."

"At first glance everything is clear - but there is actually confusion in the public and pressure on the government in Belgrade, as Albanians play the political game on the Haradinaj-Thaci route, with the goal of postponing the dialogue (with Belgrade)," Drecun said.

He added that Haradinaj has been making threats of violence for a long time, and that these threats are directed preventing the dialogue and then blaming Belgrade for this.

"This is just one in a series of threats that have been going on for a long time since the creation of the Kosovo army, attempts to establish control over Trepca (mines) and Gazivode (hydro-power resource)... Pristina's obsession is to establish full control over northern Kosovo, which the Serb people will not accept. Pristina could realize these goals exclusively through violence and the completion o the ethnic cleansing, that is, the expulsion of the Serb population from the north," Drecun said.

Albanians have resources for that - something that, according to him, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has warned about - "but KFOR is the one that should prevent it."

"You have a warning from NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that the KSF (Kosovo Security Force) cannot not be in northern Kosovo without the approval of the KFOR commander. Therefore, the United States in this crucial moment for and around Kosovo needs to clarify its position, and this is of key importance for Pristina's behavior," said Drecun.

For the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue is to continue it is necessary that Pristina lifts the taxes (of 100 percent on goods from central Serbia), this official stressed.

"It is necessary to abolish the taxes, and this is the formal condition for the dialogue to continue. It an illusion to believe that the US pressure on this issue is not enough. Clearly, pressures to abolish the taxes is not strong, because it is not happening," Drecun concluded.