Djuric: Serbia is again a victim of ideological witch hunt
Djuric, who brought a copy of the Dayton Agreement to the RTV studio, said he does not want to interfere in the constitution of another state, but he wants to show that Serbia respects that agreement not only in terms of territorial integrity but also the competencies of Republic of Srpska.
He reminded critics that Serbia, by gathering its people to nurture national identity, is doing what is envisaged by the agreement.
He added that the hand of cooperation is also extended to the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that some politicians from that country want to hide their ethnonationalism and desire to sever Serbia's and RS's ties, which Belgrade will never accept.
"It is sad that Becirevic, Konakovic, Lagumdzija are trampling on the Dayton Agreement, which for us is a political bible. We are guarding it from all those who would like to degrade Serbia's territorial integrity, but also with all our heart and passion from those who would like to trample on the competencies of RS," Djuric explained.
He pointed to President Vucic's response to the U.S. embassy in Sarajevo, in which he reiterated his commitment to respecting all agreements but also raised the question of where it says that property competencies can be taken away from entities and transferred to the federal authorities, which is one of the key causes of the crises affecting Bosnia and Herzegovina.
"As for our Assembly, we are proud to be there and we will continue to meet, to connect, but not at the expense of anyone else, but to strengthen our identity, nurture language, tradition, and culture, and we want to help others nurture their language, tradition, culture because they are our neighbors and friends, and for me, brothers. I will not allow Becirovic, Konakovic, and various other political factions to divide us. We must cooperate," Djuric emphasized.
He said it is a constitutional obligation and strategic commitment of Serbia to help Serbs in the region preserve their regional identity, their Serbian identity, to nurture their achieved rights and level of autonomy.
"We believe that this is not at the expense of anyone else but contributes to harmonious relations in the region. The only thing that does not contribute to harmonious relations is a malicious interpretation of the Assembly. Serbia clearly stated in the Declaration that it is a country of the future focused on economic development, one of the priorities being EU membership, which some international officials do not mention. Unfortunately, this is expected and part of what is happening to Serbia, which is a victim of ideological witch hunts due to its geopolitical positioning," Djuric explained.
He said it is necessary to talk even with those political forces with whom there are disagreements, in order to increase understanding for Serbia.
"I will try to go to all European capitals and where there is the greatest skepticism, to explain what we are actually doing and the contribution Serbia is making to regional peace, development of the regional economy," he emphasized.
In response to the statement that he is meeting with the Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Serbia tomorrow and the question of what he will tell him, Djuric said he will welcome his friend Aleksandar Vranjes, who comes from RS.
"I am sure we will have a productive and fruitful conversation. I am sure he will balance the positions of his country, not just one entity," he emphasized.
Asked how he will cooperate with his colleague from Bosnia and Herzegovina, he pointed out that this is someone who has tried to label Serbia as a genocidal nation, but that whoever is the elected representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina, he has a duty to talk to him.
He denied that the All-Serbian Assembly is a response to the Resolution on the genocide in Srebrenica.
"The Assembly is an expression of the need, desire, and wish of this country to take care of its compatriots in RS, to support the integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Dayton Agreement to support the rights of the Serbian, our people, and not at the expense of anyone else," he emphasized.
Asked why no one had done this in the past, Djuric said that only President Vucic had started to build schools in RS, supported the construction of hospitals, enabled strong cooperation in the economic sector, and contributed to the expansion of Serbian companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
"We are ready to cooperate even with the Federation. Vucic, I would like to remind, also offered to build schools in that part of Bosnia and Herzegovina," he added.
Djuric, asked whether the Declaration and whether the government in Belgrade support the beginning of the process of peaceful separation of Srpska from the other entity, emphasized that Serbia will never interfere inappropriately in the fundamental questions of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
"We, as the guarantor of Dayton, with support for the territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, strongly insist on the competencies of Srpska within Bosnia and Herzegovina. What we insist on is written in the Declaration, but the general trend is to distort our words, to misrepresent the text," he criticized.
Asked if the objections that are coming will postpone the process of ratification of the Assembly's Declaration in the Assembly, he emphasized that all deadlines will be met.
He said that this will not disrupt Serbia's relations with anyone essentially in the region who has not sought an opportunity to attack it verbally and politically, and it will not change Serbia's course, which is a course of cooperation, an outstretched hand, continuation of reforms, and economic development.
"There are many who do not like this, so they want to present Serbia as a scarecrow from the 90s," he stated.
According to him, the protest note from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Montenegro is a consequence, and the cause is much deeper, that there are political centers of decision-making in the region that want to present Serbia as a scarecrow, who are dissatisfied with the dynamics with which Serbia is renewing its influence, developing.
"Such politicians want to sow fear because they have nothing to offer their voters. Our intention is to nurture our culture, tradition, and cooperation, to extend a hand to everyone. Of course, we will not remain silent, which is why someone who superficially looks from the outside may think that we are actually arguing," he said.
Djuric: Kurti's regime is the grave-digger of all agreements; there will be no acceptance of so-called Kosovo's UN membership.
The ethnonationalist regime of Albin Kurti is the grave-digger of all agreements between Belgrade and Pristina, said the Minister, emphasizing that so-called Kosovo's membership in the United Nations is unacceptable for Serbia.
When asked whether his message that the solution to the Kosovo and Metohija issue can only be found within the framework of UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and through constructive dialogue refers to the 2013 Brussels Agreement or last year's Annex from Ohrid, Djuric told RTV that there is only one Brussels Agreement, the basic normalization agreement signed on April 19, 2013, and subsequently ratified by the parliament in Pristina.
"As for the conclusions from Ohrid, they were neither signed nor ratified, not even in the Pristina parliament. They did not even have a legal form, and President Aleksandar Vucic clearly stated after the talks in Ohrid that for Serbia, so-called Kosovo's membership in the UN is unacceptable under any conditions," Djuric stressed.
When it was pointed out that this reservation is not written anywhere, he explained that statements by the president, prime minister, or foreign minister have the character of international legal obligations, and the fact that Vucic publicly stated that Pristina’s UN membership is unacceptable for Serbia carries the weight of Serbia's international legal position.
"He said that Kosovo and Metohija can never be UN member, dozens of times in meetings and countless times publicly. For Serbia, Kosovo and Metohija is not and will not be a UN member, nor a sovereign state. That is Serbia's position," the head of Serbian diplomacy emphasized.
In response to the observation that the Ohrid Annex became part of the negotiation framework with the EU, specifically Chapter 35, Djuric said that this has legal weight for countries that mostly already recognize so-called Kosovo, but not for Serbia.
He reminded that Ana Brnabic, while serving as prime minister, requested in writing from the EU to remove certain elements that the Union wanted to include in the framework, especially concerning the Council of Europe. Thanks to this, he added, Pristina did not become a member of the Council of Europe.
Djuric particularly pointed out that 28 countries have withdrawn their recognition of the so-called Kosovo, largely due to President Vucic's discussions with the leaders of those countries.
When asked whether his statement about finding a solution through constructive dialogue in line with Resolution 1244 and international law holds the same strength today as it did 25 years ago, he replied that although he felt the absence of Serbian institutions during his six and a half years leading the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, it does not give the right to be disheartened and to abandon insisting on international law.
"We cannot agree on the nature of these agreements, because for decades during the negotiations, care was taken to stay within the framework of our Constitution and Resolution 1244, while also being oriented towards finding a compromise and creating conditions for Serbia to get the maximum in these conditions," Djuric added.
When asked what the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija have gained in the meantime, he emphasized significantly greater investments in Serbian communities, jobs, resources for health centers, hospitals...
"We have not stopped fighting. The state's approach was not always ideal, but it has never tried and invested so much..." Djuric added.
Regarding the statement of the U.S. ambassador in Pristina that the dialogue must end with mutual recognition, Djuric noted that this is not a new stance but has been echoed in numerous letters and greetings, but that Serbia is trying to isolate as much misunderstanding as possible and to build better relations with the U.S. in the interest of future generations.
"Let's utilize the potential of a million Serbs in America, deepen our connections there, and build the kind of Serbian lobby that Albanians have been building for generations... In Washington, there are new generations of politicians, new people we need to win over for the Serbian cause. We have no right to give up on that and condemn future generations to repeat the same mistakes," the minister said.
It is no secret, he reminds, that Serbia does not agree with the United States on the Kosovo and Metohija issue, nor with more than 80 countries, but that number, he says, is decreasing.
"We will continue to do everything in the interest of Serbia. Serbia is a reliable partner in preserving peace and stability. There are many hotheads who think it's easy to make political noise... We want to create conditions for Serbia to develop economically, strengthen militarily, build new friendships and ties. We want to improve relations with the United States, connect countries and peoples, but that does not mean we will neglect other countries and partners in other parts of the world," Djuric stated.
When asked if Serbia will impose sanctions on Russia, he said that Serbia has a balanced foreign policy and maintains relations and friendships with everyone.
"In Brussels, they know Serbia's policy, which is very balanced and will continue to be so, guided by Serbian interests, because Serbia wants to join the EU as soon as possible. And until we formally-legally enter, we do not have an obligation to fully align our policies. We have conclusions from the National Security Council and we adhere to them," Djuric said.