Vucic Raises Concerns for Kosovo, Says Serbia Could Divert the Ibar River

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has said that Belgrade is analyzing the possibility of intervening in the course of the Ibar River, raising concerns for Kosovo. According to him, Serbia is engaging experts, engineers and construction professionals to examine how such a project could be implemented. He linked the warning directly to his claims about the treatment of Serbs in Kosovo.

Vucic said that, as long as their people are being harassed to this extent, Serbia would consider the various reasons it has for diverting the waters of the Ibar. He added that they would see what the Albanians would do and how they would act, while emphasizing that Serbia is a sovereign state and would behave in accordance with its own interests.

Meanwhile, last year, acting official Hysen Durmishi, on behalf of the Ministry of Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure, signed the decision granting preliminary protection to the “Mokna Mountain and Ujman Lake” area. This is considered one of the most important decisions for the protection and preservation of the Republic of Kosovo’s natural heritage.

The Serbian president also addressed those who, in his words, present themselves as “great defenders of the interests of the Serbian people.” He asked them to ask Serbs in Kosovo whom they consider their sole protector.

Speaking about the possibility of a confrontation, Vucic raised the question of whether Serbia could go to war with NATO at this time, saying that he did not consider such a thing possible. According to him, the Serbian authorities are doing everything they can to make life easier for Serbs, whose lives he described as extremely difficult.

Vucic repeated his warning about the Ibar River, stating that Serbia has various reasons for diverting its waters. He said that the Albanians’ reaction and conduct would be observed, while stressing that, as a sovereign country, Serbia sometimes has interests of one kind and sometimes other interests, and would therefore act according to the circumstances.

He also criticized those who, as he put it, “would be happy to sit in cafés and taverns” and lecture others that they are not heroes, even though the person they attack has fought far harder than all of them combined. Vucic said patriotic feelings are good, but called on critics always to explain what solution they propose.

According to the Serbian president, he discussed Kosovo today with Matthias Döfner of Ax Springer, whom he described as one of the most powerful people in Europe. Vucic said that the conversation also addressed the “Pandora’s box” that, according to him, was opened in 1999.

His message was that Serbia does not sit on several chairs, but has only one: the Serbian chair.

Responding today to criticism that Serbia is trying to sit on many chairs, Vucic said that his country has only its own chair, the Serbian one. He said that he is attacked for this policy in Germany, the US and England, as well as frequently in Russia and Ukraine.

Vucic said that he is not interested in this criticism and that it only confirms his policy. He said he does not want Serbia to be anyone’s servant, recalling that he was elected and took his oath on the Constitution and the Miroslav Gospel. According to him, if necessary, sacrifices must be made to protect the country’s independence and autonomy.

The Serbian president added that lectures about Kosovo are also coming from Montenegro, specifically from those who send their missions to Kosovo.

He criticized countries that have recognized Kosovo and that, according to him, think of nothing else. Vucic also mentioned those who send soldiers to celebrate “Storm” and then remind him about patriotism. According to him, those same people are ready to deliver a “funeral speech” for Serbia over any agreement with Pristina, even when it is a trade agreement, while their recognition of Kosovo is treated as something normal and permissible.