SIMIĆ: KFOR SHOULD BE AWARE OF THE SO-CALLED KOSOVO POLICE THREATENING SERBS’ SECURITY

BELGRADE, August 11 /SRNA/ – The security of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija is threatened, primarily by the actions of the so-called Kosovo Police, to which KFOR now wants to assume competence of securing the Ibar bridge in Kosovska Mitrovica and at the Visoki Dečani Monastery, Serb List Presidency member Igor Simić said today.

“The question arises as to what analyses led KFOR to conclude that the situation on the ground is stable and that it is necessary to remove the strategic points located both at the main bridge in Kosovska Mitrovica and in front of the Visoki Dečani Monastery, especially given that in recent months the Serb people has been subjected to terror by the so-called Kosovo Police, which often violates the law by assisting, i.e. providing physical protection to those who violate the law and demolish Serb homes near Gazivode,” Simić told TV Most.

He stressed that the Serb List strongly opposes KFOR’s intention, because it believes the time is not right for such a move.

“If it is true that security has improved so much in north Kosovo and Metohija and that the Kosovo Police is doing its job, then the first thing that should have been done was to remove the checkpoints dating back to the Second World War at the Bistrica bridge and in Gazivode, thereby demonstrating that there is no need for such places where Serbs with children are terrorized while traveling from the Serb municipality of Leposavić to the Serb municipality of Zvečan or Kosovska Mitrovica,” Simić said.

He assessed that this would be a way to ease the security situation and that this is what citizens expect, rather than KFOR personnel being removed from sensitive points such as the main Ibar bridge, which has been a site of clashes and where there have been more than 1,000 incidents caused by attacks from the south toward the north.

“The Serb List once again calls on KFOR to respect UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and guarantee the security of all citizens, which we interpret as a guarantee of security for Serbs in this area as well,” Simić said.

KFOR announced yesterday that it had begun reducing its permanent presence on the main bridge over the Ibar, which connects South and North Kosovska Mitrovica, citing the “improved security situation” as the reason for the decision.