Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić stated on 18 June that he will not participate in the meeting with Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti, called by Brussel.
“I consider it meaningless to speak with someone who is not willing to speak,” Vučić said to journalists in Belgrade.
Vučić clarified that he will decide whether to “technically attend that meeting”, adding that it will be a strategic decision he will inform the public about.
“But speaking with Kurti, no,” he added.
The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy invited Kurti and Vučić to a meeting scheduled for the following week.
The Prime Minister of Kosovo stated that he has not yet decided whether he will attend the Brussel meeting. On Saturday, 17 June, he stated to the media in Pristina that his team will respond to Borrell’s invitation at the beginning of the next week.
Vučić also stated that the meeting with the Prime Minister of Kosovo was conditional on fulfilling Serbia’s demands: the withdrawal of Albanian mayors from the municipalities of Zvečan, Leposavić, and Zubin Potok, the withdrawal of the Kosovo Police from northern Kosovo, and the release of arrested Serbs.
Vučić expressed that Serbia attempted, as he said, to maintain peace and progress in every way.
“However, no matter how much we tried to be a serious partner of Western powers, we are on the European path, I honestly say, they have never seen us in that way. If we did not respect every request, we would be at fault, even though we are not at fault,” he added.
The Serbian President stated that his country will remain on the European path as long as he leads Serbia. However, he assessed that during this period, Serbia will not become a member of the EU.
The invitation from Brussel for the meeting between the two leaders came after an escalation of tensions in northern Kosovo. Tensions in this predominantly Serbian-populated area began on 26 May when the Kosovo Police assisted newly elected Albanian mayors in entering municipal buildings, despite the opposition of the local Serbs.
Tensions peaked on 29 May when local Serbs clashed with NATO’s peacekeeping troops in Kosovo, KFOR. Dozens of people from both sides were injured in the clashes.
Vučić requests examination by EULEX regarding case of Kosovo policemen
The Serbian leader also stated that Belgrade has requested a polygraph examination from the EU mission for the Rule of Law in Kosovo (EULEX) regarding the case of the three arrested Kosovo policemen. Vučić specified that the members of Serbia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, who made the arrest, are willing to undergo such an examination in order to determine the location where the Kosovo police officers were arrested.
Serbia claims that the three Kosovo policemen were arrested “deep” within Serbian territory, while Kosovo says they were abducted on 14 June within the territory of Kosovo.
However, Vučić stated that EULEX is “not interested” in Belgrade’s request.
On 16 June, NATO’s peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, KFOR, stated that “based on the available data, it remains unclear where the officials of the Kosovo Police were at the time of the arrest”. “We are not at war to exchange prisoners. If someone is guilty, it will be decided by our authorities,” Vučić said in Belgrade.
The Serbian leader strongly criticized EULEX, the mission that monitors cases of arrested Serbs in Kosovo and the treatment they receive from authorities. Vučić stated that Serbia possesses one of EULEX’s reports, which, according to him, “says nothing”.
“The only thing you are monitoring is how Serbs are being expelled,” Vučić said.
The United States, United Kingdom, and other Western states have called on Belgrade to immediately release the Kosovo policemen.
Regarding the three Kosovo policemen, a court in Kraljevo has ordered a pre-trial detention of 30 days. On 17 June, the U.S. Department of State urged Serbia to immediately release the Kosovo policemen, who, according to Washington, are being held in pre-trial detention under unfounded charges.
The President of Serbia announced that Serbs in Kosovo will take “active decisions” in the future, without specifying what it refers to.
He stated that on Vidovdan, an Orthodox holiday celebrated on 28 June, Serbs will “peacefully take steps on their path to freedom”.
On 17 June, Serbian daily newspaper “Blic” reported that Serbs in Kosovo will independently start forming the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority. Citing sources, the newspaper reported that a Serbian assembly is being planned for the future, in which the Association will be declared, and its bodies will be established.
This news has not been confirmed by official Belgrade.
Regarding the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority in Kosovo, Pristina and Belgrade reached two agreements (in 2013 and 2015) within the framework of the dialogue for the normalization of relations mediated by the EU.
The Constitutional Court of Kosovo stated in 2015 that the Agreement on the Principles of the Association was not fully in line with the state’s highest legal act, but the agreement can be harmonized through legislative acts.
