Director of the Serbian Government's Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Marko Djuric, said on Sunday that Serbia is "with its citizens in Kosovo." He urged them "not to worry, and turn out and vote in as great a number as possible and show Serb unity in the April 24 elections."

Speaking for the Belgrade-based TV Pink, Djuric said that officials in Pristina should be resolving burning issues instead of trying to harm Serbs, stressing that Serbia would use all means available in the international arena, as well as all the other measures it could use, to protect the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija.

Djuric said that defending our state and national interests required a strong government in Belgrade, capable of seeking solutions for our people in Kosovo at the highest levels in Europe.

"For us to be strong and to maintain our unity in Kosovo and Metohija it is very important that as many Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija as possible take to the polls on April 24. I expect the people in Kosovo and Metohija to show our unity. No one is aware more than they are of how important it is that they have a strong government to represent their interests in the international community," said Djuric. He explained that the Serbs in Kosovo would be able to vote in exactly the same manner as in 2014, and the OSCE would be present at the polls to ensure election regularity and security.

Referring to Pristina's ban on his entry to Kosovo, and his subsequent trip to the province, Djuric said it was "absurd for someone to attempt to limit freedom of movement to our citizens inside our country in an era when the whole of Europe is moving freely and normally."

"Of course I was there and of course I spoke with our citizens, and I was welcomed also by Serb ministers and deputies from the provincial (Pristina) government, so I guess those barriers only exist in the heads of those who have not yet abandoned the time of war and conflict, and who think they can build their policies on the past," he said.

As for the reported reappearance in northern Kosovo of a terrorist ethnic Albanian group known as ANA, Djuric said the footage was "not the first of its kind to surface in the past months," and added: "This is a time to ask the international community in Kosovo, too, whether this is something to keep silent about. What kind of message is being sent to Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija if such footage is being widely distributed, without meeting with any reaction, statement, or condemnation?"