INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY'S INACTION ENABLES CONTINUED ETHNIC CLEANSING OF SERBS

BELGRADE, AUGUST 3 /SRNA/ - The arrests of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija by the Priština authorities represent a creeping form of ethnic cleansing, but the reactions of the international community largely remain limited to verbal condemnations without any real consequences, which, in turn, allows such a policy to continue, believes Danijela Nikolić, chairwoman of the Committee for Kosovo and Metohija of the National Assembly of Serbia.

Nikolić stressed that the international community has ways to pressure Priština, primarily through financial assistance and its role as the main mediator in the dialogue, which seeks to ethnically cleanse the territory of Kosovo and Metohija in one move. However, she said the problem lies in a policy of "turning a blind eye" and responses that mostly remain at the level of verbal condemnations.

She said that the arrests are not isolated incidents, but rather part of a coordinated project based on a policy of conditioning, pressure and horrific terror against Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, with a single goal - to ensure that neither law nor justice exists for the Serbian people there.

"In this way, all human and fundamental rights are being taken away, while the space for a normal life is increasingly disappearing. Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija have been deprived of all their rights, both individual and collective," Nikolić said.

Nikolić pointed out that Serbs are being arrested regardless of whether the war crimes allegations against them are true, noting that in 99 percent of cases it is known that they are not, while at the same time the cases are being tried by the court in Priština, which is political and has nothing to do with law and justice.

She told RTS that northern Kosovo has recently become an increasing focus of the Priština authorities, aimed at forcing the remaining population to leave the area.

As an example of positive engagement by the international community, she cited the case of the Visoki Dečani Monastery and the halt to road construction in the monastery’s protected zone.

Following the detention of two residents of Zubin Potok in the middle of last week, another Serb from that town was arrested yesterday. All of them are accused of alleged war crimes committed in 1999.

The arrests were preceded by a series of unilateral moves by Priština that once again raised questions concerning the security, property rights, protection of cultural heritage and religious freedoms of the Serbian community.