Belgrad – Ivica Dacic has warned ethnic Albanians from the south “not to compare the ZSO with the formation of an association of municipalities with Albanian majority.”

The Community of Serb Municipalities (ZSO) should be formed in Kosovo under the Brussels agreement, while local Albanian leaders on Thursday announced they would set up their own “the association of municipalities” in the southern part of central Serbia.

Commenting on these announcements during a rally in Medvedja ahead of early local elections there, Dacic – who is Serbia’s foreign minister and first deputy prime minister, and leader of the SPS party – said that Albanians in Serbia must not be discriminated against, but that they must respect the Constitution.

“We are warning them not to make any parallels on Saturday in Preshevo with the Community of Serb Municipalities in Kosovo and Metohija, we are warning them not to play with fire and to respect the Constitution and order of the Republic of Serbia. The fact that Serbia is in favor of dialogue does not mean it is weak, on the contrary, it is strong, the strongest it has been in the last 20, 30 years,” the minister said.

He added it was a lie that Serbia had “recognized Kosovo’s independence” by negotiating with Pristina in Brussels.

“Today I heard that the Albanian prime minister say that Serbia recognized Kosovo and Metohija by conducting negotiations in Brussels. That’s a lie. I want to tell Albania and Albanians that Serbia wants good relations in the region and guarantees equality to the Albanian national minority, but Serbia will not allow anyone to humiliate it and endanger its territorial integrity,” said Dacic./B92/