Ministry of defence Republic of Serbia
 
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27.02.2020.

Minister Vulin: Vučić has been guarding Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija for eight years





- They say that when the Serbian Army marched across Albania and reached the sea in 1915, Nikola Pašić said “There is no salvation, yet we will not perish”– thatis exactly what President Vučić told you. And in Kosovska Mitrovica, I also heard the saying “Strain it to the point of breaking, but don’t let it break”. Before the negotiations you will say neither yes or no, you will not reveal what your positions are, you will neithersay where it ends, nor where it starts, all the things that will be done, what you are prepared for and what you are not –that is what negotiationsare for, no need to talk about it in advance– saidthe Minister of Defense, Aleksandar Vulin, in response to the questions by the MPs at the National Assembly on the topic of Kosovo and Metohija today.

According to Minister Vulin, the President of the Republic and the Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces, Aleksandar Vučić, said just that.

- Are we pretending we are not being blackmailed? Well, Resolution 1244 is blackmail. Were it not for Resolution 1244, they would have continued the bombing –and, that is pure blackmail. Pure blackmail is a violation of our sovereignty, pure blackmail is the withdrawal of our military, our police. But we simply live in such a world, and we have to deal with it and fight. For eight years I have been listening to how we have “betrayed Kosovo”, here you have MPs from Kosovo and Metohija, south and north of Ibar, and they know best that eight years ago we heard that we “recognized Kosovo’s independence”, that we “signed the independence of Kosovo” and that it is only a matter of weeks when this will happen, when “Kosovo would enterthe UN”. Well it did not happen. And it is not by accident – Minister Vulin emphasized.

Minister Vulin said that the difference is obvious and it is obvious why they are evading negotiations so much.

- Vučić negotiates in such a manner that Kurti flees headlong from the negotiations. This is the first time we have a Shiptar set in Pristina that refuses to sit at the negotiating table. So far, it has always been the other way around. Until now, they would always press us to sit down, and the Shiptars were greeted with open arms “just come as soon as possible, negotiate, it will be good”. Now they’re running away from negotiations – whichmeans they are losing something. It means that they are losing a lot in the negotiations – MinisterVulin emphasized.

Minister Vulin said no new countries had emerged saying that they recognized “Kosovo”.

- So you see what the change is. And that is what President Vučić said – thatsuch unacceptable offers would come and go. They have been coming for eight years and he has not accepted any and every time he has managed to preserve the sovereignty of our country – saidMinister Vulin, adding that the President could go to KosovskaMitrovica and Gračanicaevery time to look Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija in the eyes and to tell them what he agreed to and what he did and to get their support.

For eight years, Minister Vulin emphasized, we have been maintaining Serbian sovereignty in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija.

- We fight hard to preserve our sovereignty – saidMinister Vulin, recalling once again Nikola Pašić’s words “There is no salvation, yet we will not perish” and the saying “Strain it to the point of breaking, but don’t let it break”.