The Serbian government is “acting responsibly over the Trepca case and other property issues in Kosovo and Metohija, Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has said.
“Everyone must understand that they cannot take away everything from Serbia without asking anything,” Tanjug quoted him as saying on Sunday.
“Compromises will have to be made in solving property issues in Kosovo and Metohija,” Vucic told TV Prva, but noted that he can “by no means agree with those who have recognized Kosovo’s independence and who claim and insist that everything there belongs to them.”
Speaking about Trepca, Vucic said that the metallurgical part of the mining complex is mostly situated in northern Kosovska Mitrovica, while the lead and zinc mines are in the southern part of the town, and added that “Serbia’s interests cannot be denied.”
Vucic said that “the hysteria that Albanians are exhibiting, protesting and wanting to overthrow the government does not interest him at all.” He was commenting on Saturday’s protests in Pristina when thousands of ethnic Albanians demanded the takeover of Trepca.
Vucic said that “Western powers must understand that you cannot take everything and not ask us anything,”as well as that “there is no mention of anything like that in the Brussels agreement.”
Asked whether it was true he threatened that the Brussels negotiations would not continue if Pristina took Trepca – something revealed by EP rapporteur David McAllister – Vucic replied that he “did not say in that way, but it could be read that way.”
The prime minister said it is his job to “protect Serbia from those that are stronger” but at the same time, avoid exposing it to “sanctions, isolation, or bombing.
He added that he “did not blackmail anybody,” but that “you cannot expect something of Serbia while tripping it up all the time.”
“We raised the issue of property several times before and now I deliberately raised it additionally,” Vucic was quoted as saying.
