Head of the Serbian Government’s Office for Kosovo and Metohija Petar Petkovic said Thursday that Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti wants to shut down Serbian schools in Kosovo and Metohija, and warned that this would mark the end of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina (Kosovo and Metohija is the official name for what the Serbian authorities consider to be the country’s southern province).

In an appearance on the Serbian state TV (RTS), Petkovic said the Kosovo police on Wednesday evening detained the principal of an elementary school in the Gojbulja settlement, Vucitrn municipality, northern Kosovo, with the aim of intimidating the Serb population.

“Not only did they harass an innocent man, but they believe he is guilty simply because he is the principal of a Serbian elementary school. All of this is done in order to intimidate the Serbs because Albin Kurti has clearly started shutting down Serbian schools in Kosovo and Metohija. If that happens, it will be the end of everything. There will be no more dialogue because our schools and healthcare, along with our churches and the state of Serbia, are the basic pillars of the survival of the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija,” said Petkovic.

He added that he has informed the European Union (EU) Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, and the EU countries about the incident, noting that while the international community condemns Pristina’s unilateral actions, it fails to take any concrete measures.