Aleksandar Vučić, President of Serbia, warned that the provisional institutions of self-Government in Priština have created unbearable living conditions for Serbs and are now carrying out widespread systematic attacks against Serb civilians.
In the absence of appropriate reaction, the situation could cause irreparable harm to the survival of the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija.
He emphasized that the recent move by the “so-called Kosovo Central Bank” — by which payment transactions with the Serbian dinar are banned in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija as of 1 February — means the Priština regime directly disables all medical, educational, social, cultural and other institutions that enable Serbs to live with a minimum of human dignity. It is obvious, he stressed, that the creation of unbearable living conditions is the regime’s act of structural violence, intensifying a years-long, well-planned and systematic attack against the Serbian population.
Citing 470 unpunished ethnically motivated attacks against Serbs, the Serbian Orthodox Church and their property since 2021, he added that the introduction of the euro as the only legal tender in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija was obviously illegal because it was done by the unilateral decision of the political leadership in Priština.
The dinar is the legal tender of Serbia, and, therefore, cannot be banned in Kosovo and Metohija.
He recalled that the difficult situation deteriorated after the April 2023 elections in four municipalities in the north of Kosovo and Metohija; more than 97 per cent of the inhabitants are Serbs, so only slightly more than 3 per cent of the total number of registered voters turned out for these so-called elections. The situation led to peaceful protests by Serbs, to which Kosovo Albanian armed groups responded by injuring more than 50 unarmed Serbs on 29 May alone, followed by a tragic and reprehensible wounding of KFOR personnel.
He emphasized that armed formations composed almost exclusively of Kosovo Albanians on the territory of Kosovo and Metohija are illegal and contrary to Council resolution 1244 (1999). Due to physical and structural violence towards the Serbian population, more than 14 per cent of Serbs have left Kosovo and Metohija.
Rejecting inappropriate calls for restraint and responsibility by both parties, he stressed that the solution to the crisis can only be a clear order to immediately stop all the above-mentioned measures.
He recalled that in 2022, Serbia sent a request to the commander of KFOR for the return of the agreed number of Serbian security personnel to assist international forces in protecting the Serbian population. He then called on the Council and the international community to take urgent and decisive measures with the aim of normalizing the situation in Kosovo and Metohija, preventing further persecution of Serbs and creating conditions for the resumption of a meaningful dialogue between Belgrade and Priština.