Vucic, Kurti trade accusations in UN Security Council

Both men spoke after UNMIK chief Caroline Ziadeh who said that the Kosovo Central Bank decision to make the Euro the only legal currency affects tens of thousands of people who are paid by or get pensions from Serbian institutions as well as small businesses and warned that the unilateral decision causes concern both locally and internationally. She added that the Kosovo police seized millions of Dinars in cash.

According to Ziadeh, all actions must take into consideration their impact on the public because they could weaken potential for peace and security.

The Serbian president told the UN SC that Pristina’s decision to effectively ban the Dinar from Kosovo can cause irreparable harm and added that it is an attack on the Kosovo Serbs whose survival depends on payments from Serbia. He added that health care facilities and the education system are also in danger.

“The ban of the Dinar is just one of a series of planned, systematic activities by Pristina aimed at expelling the Serbs from Kosovo,” Vucic said adding that this and other measures make the survival of the Serbs in Kosovo untenable.

The revoking of the measure is the solution to the crisis, he said.

Kurti replied recalling crimes committed in the 1990s which he said were committed by the Serbian government.

“The idea that Kosovo is conducting ethnic cleansing against Serbs is a lie which has been debunked by international organizations,” Kurti said. He claimed that the same percentage of Serbs leave Kosovo and Serbia to seek better lives in Europe.

According to the Kosovo Prime Minister, the Serbian government has removed more than 4,000 ethnic Albanians from registers in southern Serbia which, he claims, is intended to depopulate the area of ethnic Albanians.

“Let me absolutely clear. The regulation does nothing to prevent the Serbian government from providing financing for the Kosovo Serbs.

The regulation seeks to ensure transparency of funds coming into Kosovo and does not ban the transfer of Dinars from Serbia,” Kurti said.

He said his government is committed to ensuring legal transfer of funds from Serbia and claimed that illegal cash had been coming into Kosovo from Serbia.

Kurti said that official Belgrade cannot be allowed to continue financing the criminal groups whose threats the Serbs face daily.

“That is the real source of Belgrade’s hysteria because we are banning large sacks of money from the border. The illegal pipeline for cash into Kosovo is about to be shut down,” he said.