"Dear President of the Security Council,
Esteemed members of the Security Council,
Dear Special Representative of the Secretary-General,
Allow me, before I move to the Report we are speaking about today, to remind you that on 19 April was exactly 11 years since the most important Agreement between Belgrade and Pristina on the path of normalization of relations was adopted in Brussels. One of the signatories was also the EU. Eleven years later, even though Serbs met all the difficult obligations from the mentioned Agreement, the Community of Serb-Majority Municipalities and its formation are not even on the horizon. For all the Serbs living in K&M, for the entire Serbia, these 11 years have been 11 years of undelivered promises, daily excuses and untruths; 11 years of accidental or intentional inability of the EU- as the guarantor of the respective Agreement, to move things from square one. Of course, all that resulted in what we can call today the legal violence and physical harassment of Serbian population in Kosovo and Metohija.
First and foremost, I extend my gratitude to Secretary-General Guterres and Special Representative Ziadeh, for their dedication to fulfilling the UNMIK mandate as outlined in UN Security Council Resolution 1244. Therefore, while the subject report may not fully capture the severity of the situation on the ground, it factually documents nearly all significant events during the reporting period, and this holds considerable value for member states. To gain a more comprehensive understanding of this report, I wish to highlight certain critical points for the esteemed members of this body to consider.
The Report on UNMIK’S work that is before us today, is being discussed month and a half since this distinguished body held the special session on situation in Kosovo and Metohija on 8 February. Let me remind you that this urgent session was held upon submission by the Republic of Serbia that the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government in Kosovo and Metohija, led by the Albanian leadership, are jeopardizing international peace and stability.
To that submission, the Republic of Serbia also enclosed the detailed explanation of actions by which the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government lead by Kosovo-Metohija Albanians continuously and intentionally created the unbearable living conditions for Serbs and other non-Albanians. Additionally, the Republic of Serbia presented to the Security Council all the actions by which those institutions carry out well-planned, widespread and systematic harassment against Serb civilians, including continuous legal violence, physical violence and selective targeting.
Urgent Security Council session on 8 February was held thanks to the fact that all members of the Security Council evaluated that our arguments in the submitted complaint had been based on facts and in accordance with that, they approved our request. I specially emphasize that the majority, which accepted our argumentation, consisted here of the countries that do not respect sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Serbia in a way envisaged by the Provisions of the legally binding UN SC Resolution 1244. Thereby, it is much more important that such a structure of the SC member states respected our arguments and took into consideration on this important session the ethnically motivated, intentional creation of unbearable living conditions for Serbs, as well as the campaign of well-planned, widespread and systematic harassment against Serb civilians, and their persecution by the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government in K&M.
I will remind you that almost all members of this distinguished body expressed profound concern for the position of Serbs and other non-Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija, and had urged for the Dialogue. During those discussions, special emphasis was placed on the acute measure of abolishing cash transactions in dinars, whereby Pristina ‘s regime dramatically and additionally made daily life of Serbs and other non-Albanians difficult, given that they predominantly receive their income in dinars. This issue was discussed in the context of denying them access to even basic social services such as healthcare, education, etc.
However, said measure to abolish the use of dinar—representing the culmination of prolonged, comprehensive and ethnically motivated campaign of widespread and systematic attacks against non-Albanian civilians by Pristina’s institutions—is still effective. If you remember Albin Kurti was speaking here in front all of you that he was giving to Serbs the three-month transitional period in which no Serb rights would be abused regarding giving and accepting dinars as a currency. Of course, since the moment session ended no one in Pristina or in the international community has ever mentioned three-month transitional periods, and all the measures against Serbs related to dinar started being implemented immediately. That is why Serbs and other non-Albanian population in Kosovo-Metohija remains unable to get their pensions, salaries, social giving, child allowances and all other payments, and why the work of schools, kindergartens, medical, social and all other institutions is practically disrupted. Employees of these institutions, those that are still operating, face daily fears from groundless apprehensions, which Kurti’s regime is carrying out on a mass scale, under false charges. This situation profoundly affects children in kindergartens, pensioners, single mothers and severely ill persons in rural environments, but also everyone else. This issue stands out as one of the few where Pristina authorities demonstrate lack of discrimination, affecting everyone equally, regardless of their age or gender, as long as they are non-Albanians and do not endorse their chauvinistic agenda aimed at realizing the Greater Albanian concept.
And yet instead of being sanctioned, Kurti’s regime keeps being rewarded.
I would like to take this opportunity to inform all member states, who have sincerely and with good intentions called for dialogue, that from February 8, 2024, to the present day, five rounds of discussion have been held in Brussels, based on UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and General Assembly Resolution 64/298 (2010). The only tangible outcome of these deliberations has been the exposure of Pristina’s true motives. Pristina’s head negotiator, Bislimi, Albin Kurti's deputy and his partner in the persecution of the civilian population, confirmed that their unilateral and escalatory decision to effectively abolish the dinar in Kosovo-Metohija has profoundly affected the people. Unlike Kurti’s assertions, made before this esteemed body that Serbia’s accusation was false and that no one, including Serbs, was impacted by their decision, Bislimi’s sincerity acknowledged the actual intentions to eradicate all Serbian presence in Kosovo-Metohija. Therefore, he, like Kurti, remained committed to Greater Albanian hegemonic aspirations, which preclude any negotiations with Serbia and coexistence with Serbs. His conduct in the dialogue process, characterized by a strategy of "sabotage through presence", underscored his reluctance to pursue a compromise solution, as had been advocated by this esteemed body, to safeguard the population.
And yet instead of being sanctioned, Kurti’s regime keeps being rewarded.
Ladies and gentlemen,
In parallel, Pristina’s brutal repression in persecuting Serbs and other non-Albanian, has been additionally deepened and strengthened. SINCE THE URGENT SESSION ON 8 FEBRUARY, 16 NEW ETHNICALLY MOTIVATED ATACKS AGAINST SERBS TOOK PLACE. They involve:
1. Armed attack against Serb young men in Gračanica,
2. Gun firing and intimidation of ever smaller number of Serb returnees in the west of K&M,
3. Continuing Unjustified Detentions,
4. Police violent removal of the plates with names of the places in Serbian language, in Cyrillic alphabet in purely Serb municipalities in the north of K&M. Continuous attacks within the campaign of Serb persecution broadened after 8 February to intrusions of Pristina’s parapolice forces into Serbian pharmacies in Kosovska Mitrovica and Zubin Potok, where the persecutors of Serbs confiscated huge amounts of medications.
On the other hand, while the UNMIK Report maintains factual precision, it lacks in capturing the interconnected events over an extended period of time. These events, when analyzed together, paint a stark picture of the ground reality. This limitation in reporting stems not only from the length of the reporting period but also from the methodology employed, which has remained consistently superficial and brief. Therefore, it is my obligation, esteemed representatives of the member states, to offer further insight into the reported events, enabling you to grasp the overall situation more comprehensively.
THE UN SC EMERGENCY SESSION IS NOT PRESENTED IN THE REPORT AS AN EVENT OF SPECAIL RELEVANCE. The respective session was mentioned only in Item 22. And even there it has been wrongly put that it had been held at Serbia’s request „to discuss the consequences of the new currency regulation“.
This claim is factually incorrect, because Serbian quest for emergency session, adopted by the UN SC, had been based on complaint supported by arguments for endangering international peace and security by Pristina. Illegal abolishment of dinar was reported and took into consideration in that context only as a part of complaint against PISG in Pristina for: 1) Systematic, widespread and well-planned attacks against Serbs by PISG in Pristina, 2) Intentional creation of unbearable living conditions for Serbs and 3) Persecution of Serbs.
The dramatic complaint on persecution of Serbs, which the SC took into consideration at the emergency session, was BLANDLY AND PROSAICALLY PRESENTED in the Report IN THE FOLLOWING WAY: „Mr. Vučić and Mr. Kurti participated in the session, presenting contrasting narratives regarding the situation in Kosovo and the regulation’s impact”.
In that regard, I believe that it is important to remind that SERBIA WAS NOT PRESENTING JUST SOME “NARRATIVE” AT THE RESPECTIVE SESSION. Quite the opposite, MY ADRESS WAS THE MERE NUMBERING OF CONCRETE DATA AND FACTS on the campaign of systematic, well-planned and widespread Pristina’s attack against Serb population.
On that occasion, I mentioned, among other things, concrete data on the following:
- The illegal expropriation of more than one million square meters of Serbian land for construction of illegal basis of special police in the north of K&M,
- Disabling freedom of movement for Serbs by meaningless stoppings, humiliating treatment, beatings, and even other acts of violence at illegal armed checkpoints and at other places throughout the north of Kosovo and Metohija,
- Arbitrary apprehensions of dozens of eminent Serbs, as well as unfounded long custody based only on their ethnicity- and without raising charges,
- Meaningless shooting by Pristina’s special forces and almost constant presence of armored vehicles in peaceful urban environments,
- Making decisions on confiscating buildings owned by Serbian institutions, which have been owning them for more than a century,
- Introduction of the 9-month illegal embargo on Serbian goods and seizures of legal goods owned by Serbian merchants,
- Violent confiscation of the property of the Serbian Orthodox Church, whereby Pristina violates special protective zones around the Serbian Orthodox Church facilities, while renaming Serbian sacral facilities, which are several centuries old, to Albanian ones,
- Ploughing and destruction of Serbian cemeteries,
- Arming illegal so-called KSF, which in accordance with Paragraph 9.b, Paragraph 15 and Article 6, Annex 1 of the UN SC Resolution 1244 should be demilitarized and dismantled,
- Disabling payment of 60.946 salaries and pensions to Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, 2.430 scholarships for students and pupils, funds for financing soup kitchens for about 2.000 socially most vulnerable citizens, as well as all other incomes for Serbs,
- 470 unsanctioned ethnically motivated attacks against Serbs
- 75 attacks against sacral facilities of the Serbian Orthodox Church,
- 25 attacks against Serbian children, including attempt of murder of the 11-years old Serb child by the representative of the illegal KSF on Christmas 2023.
And yet instead of being sanctioned, Kurti’s regime keeps being rewarded.
