Serbian Prime Minister Vucevic: Entering into conflict with Kosovo would put the entire homeland at risk

Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic was a guest on the Serbian television channel Prva. Vucevic accused Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti of 'mistreating Kosovo Serbs'.

Addressing the steps Serbia could take, Vucevic said, "We have two options. The first is to exert pressure through political channels, dialogue, and diplomacy, and to fight and struggle for the Serbs in Kosovo. The other option is conflict. However, we must know that if we choose the second option, the entire homeland will be under threat."

"IT HAS NEVER PRODUCED GOOD RESULTS IN HISTORY"

The Serbian Prime Minister also spoke about the new tensions that began at the end of August when the Kosovo government closed 5 institutions belonging to Serbs living in the northern part of the country, as well as the detention of 4 Serbian youths by police in northern Kosovo last night. Vucevic stated, "This is not a matter of 'we can just go in, walk around, and fix everything.' Do we want this, do we desire this? That is another matter. The issue here is political reality."

Stating that the policies of the Kosovo government are not sustainable, Vucevic said, "It has never produced good results in history for a nation with a small population to do these things to a nation with a large population in its region."

Vucevic added, "When we did bad things to Albanians under certain historical conditions, it did not produce good results. Now they are making a much bigger mistake and are behaving many times worse. If they look at history books a little and try to understand politics and geopolitics, they will see that these are not sustainable in the long run."

4 SERBIAN YOUTHS WERE DETAINED

Last night in North Mitrovica, in northern Kosovo, 4 Serbian youths were detained for insulting police while under the influence of alcohol, and it was announced that the youths would be held in custody for 48 hours. On August 31, the Kosovo police closed 5 Serbian institutions operating in the north of the country.

Kosovo Minister of Local Government Administration Elbert Krasniqi had announced that the parallel Serbian institutions were closed on the grounds that they violated the constitution and laws of the Republic of Kosovo. The move, which caused tensions between Belgrade and Pristina to escalate, was criticized by the US on the grounds that it was "a step not taken in coordination" and would have negative effects on the ethnic Serb community in the north of the country.