Fierce confrontation between Kurti and Vucic in the Security Council

2024-02-09 07:09:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Fierce confrontation between Kurti and Vucic in the Security Council

Albin Kurti and Aleksandër Vucic

The President of Serbia Aleksandar Vu?i? and the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, exchanged accusations and counter-accusations in an extraordinary session of the UN Security Council. This session was called by Serbia, after the beginning of the implementation of a regulation of the Central Bank of Kosovo, which defines the euro as the only currency in Kosovo, thus making it impossible to use the Serbian dinar for payments, which also prompted international concerns about the possibility of inter-ethnic tensions.

The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, in his speech to the Security Council, called Kosovo's decision to ban the Serbian dinar: "continuation of systematic attacks on Serbs", and accused Kosovo's institutions which, according to him, "have created conditions unbearable for the Serbs".

"We requested this meeting because of the action of the so-called Bank of Kosovo to ban the dinar. The so-called leadership has continued attacks on the Serbian population as their survival in the southern province depends on Serbia's budget," said Vu?i?. According to him, " This is an attack on the Serbian population and makes the situation in Kosovo difficult".

"Prishtina is preventing the actions of all health, cultural and educational institutions that provide the basic conditions. Any prevention of the financing of hospitals, schools and nurseries in Serbia is a direct attack on the Serbs and on the establishment of the Association", stated Vucic. The President of Serbia said that "there are 470 ethnically motivated attacks against Serbs and the Serbian Church in Kosovo, since the government is led by Albin Kurti. He is at the forefront of the persecution of Serbs," Vucic declared.

The reaction of Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, who participated for the first time in the session of the UN Security Council, was immediate. Kurti called all the claims of the president of Serbia lies, according to which Kosovo is carrying out a purge against the Serbs of Kosovo.

"We are proud to say that we implement the Constitution with the highest measures to protect the rights of minorities, 20 mandates guaranteed in the parliament out of 120 in total, of which 10 are specifically for Serbs. Serbs in Kosovo also have 10 of 38 municipalities in Kosovo. The Serbian language is the official language everywhere. The idea that Kosovo is carrying out ethnic cleansing or persecution against the Serbian community is simply a lie that has been refuted by many international organizations," said Kurti.

Regarding the regulation of the Central Bank of Kosovo, Kurti said, "it does not prevent Serbia from offering financial aid to Serbs".

"Everything else is false propaganda and inciting tensions. The regulation brings the legality of importing money into Kosovo in accordance with the constitution and monetary policy of the EU. Belgrade has sounded the alarm not because of the exchange of the dinar to the euro, but because that bags of dinars are being stopped at the borders and they complain not because of concern for the Serbian citizens of Kosovo, but because those money pipelines in the north of Kosovo are being stopped", said Kurti. The Kosovo Prime Minister in the Security Council also mentioned the attack on September 24 in Banjska and directly accused Vucic of financing and supporting this armed attack.

Prime Minister Kurti also accused Serbia of not signing the agreements agreed in Brussels and Ohr, not respecting the agreed points.

"Serbia rejects two key obligations, not to hinder Kosovo's international membership and not to respect territorial integrity. The signing of the agreement is not only a formality, it is also a guarantee for its full and unconditional implementation, as well as for peace and security in the Balkans" , Kurti said, inviting Vuqiqi to sign the agreement.

"I invite him to sign here today, immediately, emphasizing the crucial role of the UN charter in this relationship. This symbolic act would demonstrate his commitment to peaceful relations with Kosovo", Kurti said.

This declaration of Kurti did not like the US representative at the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who said that the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue is supported by the European Union and not by the Security Council.

"We encourage a return to the EU-facilitated dialogue that the US strongly and consistently supports. To be clear, it is the EU-facilitated dialogue, not the Security Council, that should be the channels for the resolution of issues related to the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia, including solutions that respect the rights of all communities," said Greenfield. She also said that the US has expressed concern regarding the plan of Kosovo for the implementation of the CBK Regulation on cash transactions.

"The decision was made without adequate preparation or consultation with the local population. Once again we call for the implementation of this plan, but to postpone it until there are satisfactory procedures in accordance with European standards", said the US ambassador.

Russia's ambassador to the UN, Dmitry Polyanskiy, said that the request of the Council and the European Union to recognize Kosovo's citizenship is unfair. He said that "only in 2023, 178 ethnic attacks were committed against Serbs and their property", without specifying who those attacks were committed by.

While the ambassador of Great Britain to the UN, said that the current tensions re-emphasise the importance for even greater commitment to the dialogue mediated by the EU.

"First, Kosovo and Serbia must implement their commitments and avoid unilateral actions. Second, Kosovo must exercise its sovereign power in accordance with the vision of multi-ethnic democracy that is embedded right in the heart of the Constitution of Kosovo," he said. the British ambassador. He invited the Kosovar authorities to build a clear plan, so that all Kosovo Serbs continue to receive income and that basic services continue to function until a comprehensive solution is found./DW