Vučić: At least three Serbs were killed, two by snipers. We have footage of incidents

President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, addressed the citizens this evening regarding today's events in Kosovo and Metohija.

Source: B92 Sunday, 24.09.2023. | 21:41

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FOTO TANJUG/ SAVA RADOVANOVIĆ/ bs

At the beginning of his address, president said that it is one of the most difficult days for Serbia since 2004 and 2008. He apologized for not being able to address the public earlier in the day because it was necessary to determine what was happening in Kosovo and Metohija and make appropriate decisions.

"This is one of the most difficult days for our country. I apologize to the citizens for not addressing them on an earlier occasion. As you know, we have not had direct control since 1999 and we had to investigate what happened so that we could tell the people the truth and prepare the ground for making decisions''.

Namely, I will only talk about what happened, and then I will give an assessment. Tonight, around 2.46 a.m., a group of Serbs set up two trucks as barricades in Banjska in the north of Kosovo, then the Kosovo police came and tried to remove those barricades, and that's where the conflict started. Policeman Afrim Bunjaku was killed in it and another person was wounded. At 8:57 a.m., the Jarinje and Brnjak administrative crossings were closed, the skirmish is still ongoing. At 10:15, the Albanians announce that 4 Serbian municipalities are the zone of the anti-terrorist operation. What actually happened, for people to know. Even though we talked about it many times, even though I warned both in Brussels and in New York that this could happen, few people listened," said Vučić.

"Serbs, and not people from central Serbia, but within Kosovo and Metohija rebelled, not wanting to put up with Kurti's terror any longer. Since November 3, when Kurti replaced the commander of the North region from Berlin, Djurić, they used the so-called Kosovo police 62 times against Serbs, 22 exclamatory attacks and over 40 moves directed at Serbs," Vučić pointed out and said that he does not justify the killing of an Albanian policeman in any way.

„I don’t want to justify the killing of an Albanian policeman, nor is it possible to justify it. That is absolutely reprehensible“, he said.

According to the president, dozens of Serbs were completely surrounded for more than an hour and a brutal attack took place. "They gave Kurti carte blanche to deal with the terrorists. According to the information we have so far, two were seriously wounded, three were killed and there is a fear that a fourth person was also killed. We intercepted what the Albanian police were doing and we are waiting for the evidence to be translated," said Vučić and added that they did not want to help one person and that is why his life was in danger, for which they possess audio recordings.

"What happened next? There is one incredible thing, in just one hour and twenty minutes, those several dozen Serbs were completely surrounded, logistically, a brutal attack was carried out on them. They gave Kurti carte blanche to deal with the terrorists. At this moment, three Serbs have died, two from sniper fire, from a long distance, when it was not necessary to eliminate them, and there is a fear that a fourth person has died," said Vučić.

As he said, they used snipers and hit private houses around Banjska.

"In fact, they came to the monastery because they had two wounded young men whom they wanted to help. The church had nothing to do with it. Then the spin revolution started. I guess fathomed by all those who bloodied their hands against Serbia in 1999. They called this armored vehicle - a Gendarmerie vehicle... This is what our people used from 1996 to 1998, and it has nothing to do with the army, and I am ashamed to speak about such lies", said the president.

Albanian portals announced that Počuča and Pavle Bihali were killed

Albanian portals announced that Pavle Bihali was killed in order to make a connection with Belgrade, the president said, adding that the Albanian media released a lot of information that are notorious lies, as well as the information that the monks are being held hostage.

"I will show you how, boasting that they had killed terrorists, they showed a video from Nagorno-Karabakh. It was not important how they will present lies, but that the blame for the murder of an Albanian policeman should fall on Belgrade and that they would show that they have the right to harass citizens in the north of Kosovo. They especially attacked the Serbian Orthodox Church, according to the old mantra and the notorious lie that weapons were being transferred through the church. Kurti and everyone else lied about this. It goes without saying that any normal person will condemn the murder... I'm just asking them what they would do with Dragisa Galjak and what about the investigation into his attempted murder. Because they are not interested in that, because they surrounded the Serbs with such speed and showed how they are to blame for everything," says Vučić.

The only one to blame for everything is clearly Albin Kurti and part of the international community that helps him, the president said. As he says, Kurti provoked all the time and he felt sorry that part of the Serbs, unfortunately, fell for it.

"No one wants conflict and war except Kurti. He wants to drag us into war and that's the only thing he does all the time. When there was this kind of conflict in North Macedonia, the world stopped it, and today they said kill them all", Vučić pointed out and added that everything is a lesson for us to know who we are dealing with. "You could hear how Serbia did all that, and that speaks volumes about their intentions. From Michael Roth to Günther Fehlinger, calling on NATO to bomb Serbia," Vučić pointed out.

"We have had a session of the National Security Council all day, we will make decisions carefully, prepare them in detail, and with those decisions come before our people in the days ahead, we call on the international community to form CSM and for the Serbs to assume the roles of policemen in the north, because that is the only way that Serbs will no longer be expelled and that there will be no more conflicts," said Vučić.

"These are not the uniforms of the army or the police of Serbia"

When asked by a journalist about the hypocritical behavior of the international Community, the president pointed out that hypocrisy is their middle name.

"All the time they were looking for a reason for this. Pressure on Serbia to recognize Kosovo is the essence. Not to mention that they destroyed our army. My most important message is that we will never recognize an independent Kosovo. You can kill us all. Serbia will never recognize independent Kosovo! The freak creation you created by bombing... we are ready and we will always negotiate, but you can forget about the recognition of Kosovo," answered Vučić.

To the question of the journalist N1, Vučić mentioned that there were insinuations that the Serbian army gave the uniforms and that Serbia is to blame for today's events.

"These are not the uniforms of the army or police of Serbia. The uniforms are bought on the market and it is not a problem to get them," said Vučić.

He said that it is not possible to enter peacefully without the permission of KFOR. He also added that he was "in touch" with Petković all day, and that the people in the north of Kosovo and Metohija are in fear.

"I don't think the problem is that people were locked up today, but that the Albanians were shooting at the surrounding houses. I didn't understand the meaning of all that," said Vučić and pointed out that the Albanians probably feared that there was someone in those houses who would resist them.

KFOR is in charge of freedom of movement, they should have protected them and removed the barricades, the president reminded.

"If I were to ask you what you would do in our place, you wouldn't know what to answer. We follow what's happening all the time. There were so many problems and troubles that we simply couldn't do it earlier. I can't go in front of the people with what I read in the newspaper, as others have been coming out all day with semi-information. Many Serbs died for the freedom of Serbia and for Kosovo in Serbia, but one thing is certain - Kosovo will never get their independence from Serbia. No matter how hard foreign factors try... We will make decisions in the coming days," Vucic points out.

Commenting on Michael Roth, who could not even open his mouth and condemn the Albanian police when Serbian children were shot, the president points out that Roth himself is one of the main culprits for everything that is happening in Kosovo. The president also referred to the shameful name-calling by the opposition.

"They didn't say a word. None of them worked to de-escalate because there was a "carte blanche" for killing Serbs after killing an Albanian, which has not been allowed anywhere until now. As for them, I am ashamed to even mention them. I guess they are starting from themselves. They worried so much about the Serbs and felt so sorry, so they only thought about how something would affect their results in the elections... For God's sake," the president concluded.

When asked about the danger of the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija, the president did not want to comment much and emphasized that this is unfortunately not an epilogue.

"It's bad enough to be an epilogue, but I'm afraid it will get worse. I didn't accidentally say that we will make decisions in the days ahead. They lied all the time... A year and a half since Ukraine, lying about Serbia wanting to go to war. And they never said sorry. We know that the two victims are from Kosovska Mitrovica, our sincere condolences to the families and the family of the Albanian policeman. It's all Kurti's fault. If it wasn't for the Albanian police but the Serbian one, as it should be, none of this would have happened," he said.

Let us remind you that the police of the so-called Kosovo announced this morning that around 2:30 a.m. last night there was a shooting near the village of Banjska in which two members of the Kosovo police were wounded, one of whom succumbed to his injuries.

Also, the Diocese of Raška-Prizren issued a release stating that it strongly condemns the attack that took place this morning in the north of Kosovo, near the village of Banjska.

It is a serious incident that can have major consequences, and that is why it is very important that everything be done to preserve peace and order, the Eparchy of Raška-Prizren emphasizes.