GOTOVUŠA LOCALS: 'We survive here so we're thorn in their side! We'll fight till last man standing, but WON'T HARM ALBANIAN KIDS'

The locals of Gotovuša, a village near Štrpci where Serbian youths were shot at, are visibly unsettled and worried, as witnessed by the Kurir team who have visited the village in Kosovo and Metohija!

Yesterday, on Christmas Day, the locals gathered together at the village church, as they do each year, but a happy festival was marked in a very different way – the only topic of conversation was the Christmas Eve crime, when Stefan Stojanović (11) and Miloš Stojanović (21) were shot at and wounded. Candles were lit almost exclusively for the health of their wounded neighbours.

Agitation

Bojan Radić is one of the Gotovuša locals who spoke with Kurir and confirmed the impression that we had. The locals have become deeply unsettled, and they all know what sort of message the shots fired have sent.

"We're all still in shock. This treacherous attack has unsettled us all. It's a tragedy that'll be remembered for a long time. Thank the good Lord that the youths walked away with their lives. That what's most important now. We had a traditional gathering at the church on Christmas Day. Today was different, this misfortune has affected us all. Everyone's crestfallen, scared, and worried. We lit candles for their health. People are really scared, and this is a horrible and dangerous message that we we've been sent as Serbs who wish to stay in our ancestral homes," Radić told us.

He is convinced that the Albanians' hatred towards the remaining Serbs is behind everything:

"We're a thorn in their side because we're survived. The tragedy that occurred on Christmas Eve means that the Kosovo and Metohija Serbs will be moving out at an accelerated pace. Unless something big happens regarding the security and the economy, we won't be able to survive here," Radić pointed out.

As he informed us, Stefan Stojanović (11) is recovering after being wounded, and all the Gotovuša locals' thoughts are with him and his relative Miloš.

"We're getting news of his condition. Stefan's had a surgery, and his mother, father, and grandmother are there by his side. He has the support of all of us here in Gotovuša, and we wish for him to have a speedy recovery and continue his childhood in his village and home," Radić said.

Intimidation has become an everyday thing

Radić is not the only one not to accept the fact that something like this is happening simply because they are Serbs. As a number of people said, they requested that checkpoints at the village entrance and exit be established in order to enhance security.

"May the Lord repay him for what he has done, but we'll fight till the last man standing. We will not do the kinds of things the Albanians have been doing to us, like shooting at children," another Gotovuša local, Dejan Radić, told us.

The fact that intimidation has become an everyday thing for the Kosovo Serbs is evidenced in the words of Miroslav Stanković from Gotovuša:

"Last fall I went mushroom picking and ran into an Albanian and two of his sons there. I ask him, 'What are doing here?' and he says, 'Just cutting down trees.' Then I say to him, 'What do you mean? This is mine,' and he says, 'No, it's mine!' He wouldn't stop until I called the police. I'm not the only one to go through such a thing. They've taken everything away!"

They say that they rely upon the harmony and faith of the brave Gotovuša people in ensuring a brighter future and the possibility of survival.

As a reminder, two Serbian youths – Stefan Stojanović (11) and Miloš Stojanović (21) – who were wounded yesterday in Gotovuša, near Štrpci, when a local Albanian man – a member of the KSF – opened fire at them from a moving vehicle as they were carrying the Yule log, are hospitalized at the Medical Centre in Gračanica.

THE STATEMENT OF THE SERBIAN MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

KFOR responds to Serbia's request

On Christmas Eve, representatives of the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff Committee for the Implementation of the Military Technical Agreement were handed the response to the request for the return of up to 1,000 members of the Serbian Armed Forces and the police to the Kosovo territory by KFOR representatives at the Merdare Administrative Border Crossing.

"The Ministry of Defence has provided said document to the Office of the President of the Republic and the Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces Aleksandar Vučić in order for him to be able to review the KFOR response," the statement of the Ministry says.

GORAN RAKIĆ, LEADER OF THE SERBIAN LIST

'We will never forget what you did to our children'

The President of the Serbian List, Goran Rakić, has said in a statement that, sadly, there is no peace for the Serbs and the Serbian children in Kosovo even on the happiest Christian holiday – Christmas. Alongside the Mayor of Štrpci and Vice-President of the Serbian List, Dalibor Jevtić, he visited the Serbian youths who were wounded yesterday in Gotovuša and said on the occasion that the Kosovo Serb had been oppressed all these years.

"They have tried to drive us out of these parts in every conceivable way. I have a message for all those who don't want Serbs to be around in this region. We will never forget what you did to our children, and we will never forgive what you did the day before yesterday. I call upon all the relevant authorities, above all the international community and KFOR, to enhance their presence and not help by means of statements and condemnations, but by showing on the ground that they really care about protecting the Serbs and the other minority groups living here," Rakić said.

A POPULAR ASSEMBLY TO BE HELD TODAY IN ŠTRPCI

'We have had enough of the terror and the hatred'

A protest will be held today in Štrpci as a result of wounding the Serbian youths in Gotovuša, near Štrpci, announced Dalibor Jevtić, the Mayor of this municipality. The protest will be held at noon in front of the local Cultural Centre.

"We will send out a message in unity and unanimity that we have had enough of the terror and the hatred, that all we want is peace and to be allowed to live our own lives," Jevtić said. In its statement, the Serbian List calls upon all the Kosovo and Metohija citizens to come to this, as they point out, "peaceful and democratic protest," "in order to offer support to the wounded and their families, but also to raise our voice against Albin Kurti's tyranny, which has resulted in endangering peace and the continued persecution of the Serbian people in this region."

Kurir.rs/ Kurir Team