At the session of the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy Sub-Committee on External Relations of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe held in the headquarters of the United Nations in New York, the Serbian delegation actively spoke on the issue of protecting the rights of the Serbian population in Kosovo-Metohija, and criticized the international community for the lack of response to constant security threats and discrimination.
Many meetings were held during the Sub-Committee’s three-day session, 11 - 13 November, the most important being with Jean-Pierre Lacroix, UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, as well as Miroslav Jenca, Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and Americas.
In the meeting with Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the Head of the Serbian delegation, Biljana Pantic Pilja, pointed out the constant terror Serbian population is exposed to in Kosovo-Metohija. She said that since Albin Kurti came to power, there have been numerous ethnically motivated attacks on Serbs, which have increased to over 600 incidents for which the perpetrators have almost never been held accountable.
Pantic Pilja asked what Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija can expect in the future, stressing that no progress has been made in terms of the protection of fundamental human rights for the Serbian population.
One of the topics of the meeting with Miroslav Jenca was the situation in the southern Serbian province. Member of the Serbian delegation Aleksandar Mirovic expressed deep concern over the increasingly prominent terror against Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija, carried out by Kurti, criticising the European Union for its inadequate reaction. He wanted to know in whom the Serbian people in Kosovo-Metohija can trust, bearing in mind that the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities has been put on hold for more than eleven years.
The members of the delegation underlined the importance of respecting international law. They pointed out that any violation of international norms is inadmissible and that Serbia expects the international community to react to the gross violations of rights that occur in cases involving Serbia.
This session served as an opportunity for the Serbian delegation to once again remind the world public of the challenges faced by Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija and the need for urgent and fair intervention to protect their rights and security.
