Tadić: Serbia doesn’t want war, violence

Source: Politika, Tanjug

BELGRADE -- Serbia’s President Boris Tadić has said that Serbia does not want war or violence and that Priština would have to bear consequences if it took violent actions.

Boris Tadić (Tanjug, file)

“Serbia’s policy is peaceful and its goal is to establish permanent peace in the Balkans,” he pointed out.

“Serbia demands absolute status neutrality from EULEX and KFOR and prevention of Priština’s violent actions against northern Kosovo because it is their obligation in accordance with all UN decisions,” the president told daily Politika.

He stressed that Serbia would continue to fight to achieve its interests in European, world institutions and the UN, adding that the country would use all legal means to protect security and interests of its people in northern Kosovo or any other place they lived.

Tadić pointed out that Serbia’s representatives had been warning the international community of danger that stem from Priština’s unilateral and violent actions the entire time. He added that if anyone risked a war in this part of Europe, they would have to bear responsibility for the consequences.

The president pointed out that he said at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel that Priština’s strategy was to change reality in the field with various actions aimed at expelling Serbs from Kosovo.

“I told my European partners that by accepting the situation created by violence they are

accepting the ethnic cleansing of Kosovo and taking responsibility for it,” Tadić said and added that Serbia would never accept ethnic cleansing of Serbs from Kosovo.

“I expect the European institutions to contribute to a peaceful solution and therefore I expect continuation of the Belgrade-Priština dialogue. We don't need anybody pushing us to continue the dialogue because it is in our interest to find a modus of joint existence and to minimize security risks,“ the president was quoted as saying.