The goal of putting up a memorial to eight members the Liberation Army of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja (LAPBM)  is to draw attention away from investments and to hamper the negotiating position of Belgrade, said the President of the Coordination Body for South Serbia Zoran Stankovic.

The building of a memorial complex to eight members of the disbanded so-called  Liberation Army of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja continued above Presevo. President of the Coordination Body for South Serbia Zoran Stankovic said that the goal of building the memorial complex was to divert attention from the investments and to make the negotiation position of Belgrade more difficult.

"The construction of the memorial, as it is called in the statements of some Albanian leaders and people involved in its construction, started six months ago. The responsible offices were notified, while the competent authorities and state officials were informed about the construction of the monument.  The inspection office should do its job, and things will be according to the way it decides", Mr. Stankovic said during his appearance in the News program broadcast by RTS.  

They didn’t apply for the monument’s building permit, Mr. Stankovic said, adding that too much importance was attached to the issue.

"They are trying to shift the issues of the real political situation and the stabilization of the situation in the area to some other extreme issues, so that some non-essential issues become prevailing, which is, in a way, the plan of the people who are building the monument", said Mr. Stankovic.

We have daily contacts with the local self-government leaders and representatives of both Serbian and Albanian opposition parties, said the President of the Coordination Body for South Serbia.

"That area hasn’t been governed by the laws of the Republic of Serbia, in the form in which it is necessary, for a long time. All representatives of the governmental bodies have to take  care of what is going on in their territories and to respect the laws of the Republic of Serbia ", said Mr. Stankovic.

"When we were visited by the British Ambassador Mr. Davenport, as well as during the visit of the U.S. Ambassador Mr. Kirby, we were in the position that their visits were the prevailing topics in the media and public, while the investments of the Government of the Republic of Serbia weren’t even mentioned”, Mr. Stankovic said.  

"The goal of Ambassador Kirby’s visit was for him to see how the funds were spent and to realize that the Government of Serbia actively and within its means financed the activities in that area. Unfortunately, the attention was drawn to the monument, and not to the investments and the efforts to enable better lives of the people who live in the area ", said Mr. Stankovic.

There is a tendency to hamper the negotiations, so that the situation in the three municipalities looks worse than the existing one, Mr. Stankovic said, adding that efforts were made to make the position of Belgrade in the negotiations with Pristina more difficult

"I think this can’t be called into question, given that we will make an effort to obey the law and enable the Albanian national minority have all the rights that belong to them under the Constitution and the law”, said Mr. Stankovic.  

There are debatable monuments in the whole territory of the Republic of Serbia, Mr. Stankovic said, explaining that they were built outside the existing regulations and laws and without  permission.

"This is something that the Ministry of Justice ought to regulate by means of legal acts and we hope that, once it is governed, we will be spared such problems," Mr. Stankovic said. "

Source: RTS