Kurti: Serbs who feel unsafe in Kosovo are the criminals

NEWS 06.09.202211:00
Armend Nimani/AFP

Criminals and corrupt people living both north and south of the Ibar River are the ones who feel unsafe, said Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti in response to Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic’s statement that the safety of Serbs in Kosovo is the “red line” for the Serbian government.

During her visit to Kosovo on Monday Brnabic said that Serbia “will not allow new storms and pogroms” and added that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is trying to find a compromise in order to ensure “at least some kind of safety for Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija (the official name for what the Serbian authorities consider to be the country’s southern province).”

“We are prepared for almost everything, to preserve peace and stability at almost any cost, but there are red lines and it is important for me to repeat this here before you, just like you have heard this from President Aleksandar Vucic so many times. This red line is the safety of our people in Kosovo and Metohija. There will be no new storms and no new pogroms,” Brnabic said at the Banjska Monastery in northern Kosovo.

Responding to Brnabic’s statement, Prime Minister Kurti said that people living in Kosovo, including members of the Serb community, are safe, Kossev reported.

“The citizens of the Republic of Kosovo are safe because Kosovo is a democratic and independent state, with sovereignty and territorial integrity, which does not tolerate and that fights against organized crime and corruption of all kinds, so members of the Serb community, both south and north of the Ibar River, are safe,” Gazeta Express quoted Kurti as saying.

However, he claims that those who “feel unsafe” are actually the criminals.

“Those who are insecure and maybe even feel unsafe are the criminals,” said Kurti, adding that “the state’s justice and the power of the law are merciless towards them.”