Đurić from New York: Serbia’s Voice Was Heard at the UN Security Council Today

“We did not leave unanswered the attempts to turn the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija from victims into perpetrators, nor the attempts to sweep under the carpet the terror inflicted on Serbs, as evidenced by more than one hundred ethnically motivated incidents during a single UNMIK reporting period. Nor did we leave unanswered the Kurti regime’s attempts to portray Kosovo and Metohija as a democratic paradise and Serbia as a country where the rights of no national community are respected,” Đurić emphasised.

The Serbian Foreign Minister also singled out what he described as the political obsession of representatives of the Kurti regime with Aleksandar Vučić and even members of his family, as well as their attempts to justify the prohibition imposed on Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija against voting within the territory of Kosovo and Metohija.

According to Đurić, there had also been attempts to portray the tragedy in Banjska as solely the responsibility of the Serbian side, while sweeping under the carpet the fact that three Serbs from northern Kosovo and Metohija and an ethnic Albanian Kosovo police officer had lost their lives there, without allowing any opportunity for the Serbian side of the story to be heard.

“We brought all of this before the international community today and, I would say, perhaps the highest body of the international community that still functions and provides a forum where representatives of countries with opposing positions discuss global issues. Serbia’s voice was heard. I also spoke about the attack on Serbian boys on Orthodox Christmas Eve in 2023, a case that has never been brought to a conclusion. Everyone talks about Banjska, where three Serbs were also killed, yet no one speaks about what was literally an attempted murder that, only by sheer chance, did not result in the deaths of two children, and for which, of course, no one has been held accountable,” Đurić stressed.

Đurić identified the judgments of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers against Thaçi, Veseli, Selimi and others as another important issue raised during his address, stressing that Serbia seeks neither Serbian nor Albanian justice, but impartial justice for all victims.

“We seek neither Serbian nor Albanian justice, but objective justice for the victims — Serbian victims and Albanian victims alike, who were killed in Kosovo and Metohija by the so-called KLA, which we regard as a terrorist organisation,” Đurić stated.

“A representative of the Kurti regime, by contrast, attempted to portray Serbian victims as fabrications. While I spoke about both Serbian and Albanian victims, expressing sorrow for both, he spoke in a manner that insulted Serbian victims, claiming that our victims were fabricated. These are things we must be aware of. It was also evident to the international community that the Serbian side had adopted an honourable, objective approach, one guided by responsibility towards the truth and towards the future. I also pointed out that we had not discussed the future, although the establishment of the Community of Serb Municipalities, which has remained unfulfilled for 13 years, must occupy a central place in that future,” Đurić emphasised.

According to the Serbian Foreign Minister, Serbs in northern Kosovo and Metohija are living under apartheid, in a permanent police protectorate, where they face daily violations of their fundamental rights.

“Our schools, hospitals and church buildings cannot function normally because of the terror inflicted by the Kurti regime. I stated this loudly and clearly before the Americans, Russians, Chinese and the Security Council. The Serbian voice on this issue will be heard forever, just as our desire for justice regarding Kosovo and Metohija will burn forever,” Đurić declared.

Reflecting further on the Security Council meeting, Đurić also stated that the Kurti regime’s desire to interfere in the elections scheduled to take place in Serbia on Sunday had been evident.

“Some might say, ‘Well, as citizens of Serbia, they have the right to express their views.’ They, of course, want one side to fail and another to succeed in those elections, and they made no attempt to conceal that here at the Security Council today. Let me repeat once again: the Kurti regime referred to Aleksandar Vučić and members of his family in a negative context here today. That is all the citizens of Serbia need to know about whom they support,” Đurić concluded.