OFFICE DIRECTOR FOR KIM: Extremists attacked in the center of Gracanica, security must be strengthened in Serbian areas

Unfortunately, that happened, is stated in the statement of the director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petković, who reacted on the occasion of last night’s attempt to burn the Serbian flag near the monument to Miloš Obilić in the center of Gračanica.

Director Popović warned that extremists dared to attack the very center of Gračanica last night, where they tried to burn the monument to Miloš Obilić and the Serbian tricolor, and that was prevented by the spontaneous reaction of the inhabitants of Gračanica.

– I hope that the international security presence in the Serbian communities in central Kosovo and Metohija will be urgently strengthened and that Pristina will be pressured to deny political support to extremist groups. It is also unacceptable that in the Serbian areas of central Kosovo and Metohija, so-called Kosovo security forces and special police units parade in armored personnel carriers to show force in order to intimidate and annoy Serbs, instead to contain the Albanian extremist groups. The formations, which are partly made up of former KLA members, cannot be a guarantee of the safety of the Serbian people and an effective response to the intense provocations of the Albanian extremists, Director Petković said in a statement.

He called on the Kosovo and Metohija Serbs to be careful in the coming days, but also to refrain, so as not to give the extremists reasons for destabilizing security on a larger scale.

– I emphasize that provocations of this kind are especially dangerous on days when the Serbian people are mourning the death of Patriarch Irinej, so those who care about security in Kosovo and Metohija must ensure that our people cry in peace – concludes Petar Petković in a press release.