Minister calls on EULEX, KFOR to protect Serbs

Serbian Minister for Kosovo Goran Bogdanovic has called on KFOR and EULEX to protect the Serb community in Kosovo.

He said that the fact that the international community kept silent about the killings was unacceptable.

The minister told Speaking for the Radio and Television of
Serbia (RTS) he expected EULEX to investigate the murder and wounding of
two Serbs in the village of Zrze, in the municipality of Orahovac.

leksandar Putnik, 51, was murdered, while his son Dobrica, 25, was
wounded as they were shot near a restaurant some time around midnight on
Saturday.

“Unfortunately, this is what we all dreaded – that
the events in northern Kosovo and Metohija spill over onto the area
south to the Ibar River,” Bogdanović said, underlining that not a single
day passed in Kosovo without an incident.

He added that light
had not been shed on any murder, wounding or attack on Serbs, and
wondered: “what does EULEX serve for, what is its mandate and why did
they come?”

“If they came here to expand Kosovo independence
onto northern Kosovo and Metohija, they are not welcome,” the minister
said, adding that there was no need for such a large force of EULEX and
KFOR in northern Kosovo and that focus should be placed on the people
that are returning and those who stayed in the enclaves.

“The
right way to protect the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija is for EULEX and
KFOR to regain status neutrality,” the minister pointed out.

Bogdanović reiterated that the solution should be sought in
negotiations, and that Serbs were aware that barricades were not the
means to protect legitimate interests, but were the only way they could
make the international community realize that they did not accept Kosovo
independence.