NEBENZYA: PRIŠTINA INTENTIONALLY CREATING INTOLERABLE CONDITIONS FOR SERBS

NEW YORK, OCTOBER 20 /SRNA/ – The provisional authorities in Priština are deliberately creating unbearable living conditions for Serbs in the southern Serbian province of Kosovo and Metohija, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya said.

Addressing the session of the UN Security Council, he drew attention to the persistently tense situation in Kosovo, noting that Serbian institutions providing healthcare and education were being shut down, the use of the Serbian dinar had been banned, persecution of the Serbian Orthodox Church /SOC/ was intensifying, and Serbs' electoral rights were being violated. Nebenzya noted that Priština's so-called judicial system was fabricating crimes attributed to Serbs and conducting a campaign of intimidation against the Serbian population. "Cases involving the use of excessive force are on the rise, ranging from the aggressive arrest and search of Serbs to their torture," Nebenzya stressed, reminding of the years of arbitrary arrests of Serbs and the illegal expropriation of Serbian-owned land and houses. Nebenzya said Serbs continued to be forced to leave their homes, while their property was being destroyed. He also noted that Orthodox churches and graves continued to be desecrated. Nebenzya described Priština's actions as institutional terror and said the international community present on the ground was ignoring all appeals from Serbs, thereby encouraging the authorities in Priština. The Russian ambassador reminded that the Kosovo Albanians responsible for beating a Russian member of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo /UNMIK/ in 2019 had still not been brought to justice, and that the international community had failed to respond to the expulsion of UNMIK members. Nebenzya also said Priština had attempted to manipulate the mandate and decisions of the Specialist Chambers in The Hague after the court convicted former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army /KLA/, while the EU turned a blind eye, as it had to Priština’s failure to establish the Community of Serb Municipalities /CSM/. According to Nebenzya, the West was blackmailing the authorities in Belgrade into recognizing the independence of their southern province and was making decisions "as if it lived in a parallel world." He said Russia expected UNMIK to take stronger and more visible action, adding that the neutral reports the mission currently submitted to the Security Council did nothing to improve the situation. "We demand the full implementation of Resolution 1244. The Security Council must send a clear message that the international community will not tolerate violations of this resolution," Nebenzya said, adding that Resolution 1244 needed to be examined in detail. Nebenzya accused the West of being completely "detached from reality" when it came to the actual situation in Kosovo and Metohija. "The UN Security Council must objectively assess the situation, and UNMIK must do more to ensure stability and security in Kosovo and Metohija," Nebenzya concluded.