Rohde: Barricades removed before Christmas

In an interview Monday given “to KTV's interactive”, Rohde has said KFOR is staying in this area to provide safe environment and free movement, however, according to him, barricades must be removed as soon as possible from those who have been deployed.

Our position is clear. They are illegal and must leave as soon as possible from those who established them. KFOR is there and it offers a safe environment and free movement. So I'm optimistic that it will come true, I hope as soon as possible, because the last one we need is a further escalation of the situation. The Kosovo government has escalated the situation. As you know, elections had to be held. And now I'm asking that in the north, people call the mind of especially leadership”, he said.

Rohde has added that residents in the north are suffering, as border points and schools are closed, so these barricades must be removed before Christmas holidays.

You have blocking barricades and you can't move that much. There are people in the north and I would underline that they are suffering most and that they have become a political hit ball. So, especially now, since Christmas is coming, these barricades must be removed as soon as possible. We need dialogue, not confrontation. My government certainly stands with the Government of Kosovo to escalate the situation. Those responsible for the barricades should think that they are making their population suffer”, he has said.

Jorn Rohde has compared the arrest of Serbian politician Rada Trajkovovic to that of former Kosovo Police member Dejan Pantic, who said she has not seen similar reactions to both cases from the Serbian List.

He said, not only has it not become the same noise like over a week ago for Pantyqi even Traykoviki's case, and for the latter there was absolute calm from the same politicians.

I request from each political force the escalation of the situation and rational behavior. Whenever someone is arrested, as is the case of last week in the case of a former Kosovo Police member, of Serbian origin, who woke up a great echo for pressure on Serbs, but when last week a Serb politician from Kosovo, Mrs. Trajkovovic was being held by Serbian police at the border, there was an absolute calm from the same politicians”, he said. /Koha.net