Petkovic: We insisted on Community, pointed out Pristina's terror against Serbs

BRUSSELS - The head of the Serbian government Office for Kosovo-Metohija Petar Petkovic said in Brussels after Thursday's round of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue at chief negotiators level that Belgrade had insisted on the establishment of a Community of Serb Municipalities.

Petkovic, who is Belgrade's chief negotiator, said the Community was essential for the process of normalisation of relations between Belgrade and Pristina as well as for normal life of Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija.

In a statement after a trilateral meeting with EU special envoy Miroslav Lajcak and Pristina's chief negotiator Besnik Bislimi, Petkovic said he had informed Lajcak of Pristina PM Albin Kurti's terror against the Serbs, particularly in the north of the province.

"We pointed out all the worsened circumstances in which Serbs live in Kosovo-Metohija. We spoke about the ethnic cleansing of Serbs that is being carried out by the Pristina authorities and about their unilateral and escalatory moves, closures of Serbian institutions, illegal arrests of Serbs and all other things that completely make the position and the life of Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija more difficult, which is why some Serbs have left the north of Kosovo-Metohija," Petkovic said.

He said continuing the implementation of a declaration on missing persons had also been discussed and that Belgrade had once again demonstrated full constructiveness, accepting an EU proposal to adopt a specific rulebook for a working group and a commission tasked with the issue of missing persons.

"Of course, Pristina again had some comments to make and tried to stop that process, demonstrating once again that it essentially does not want to deal with the issue of finding missing persons," Petkovic noted.