BELGRADE, January 17. /TASS/. The upcoming visit of Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic to northern Kosovo following the murder of prominent Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic is "very risky but necessary," MP in the Serbian parliament Milovan Drecun told RTS broadcaster.
"The trip is very risky but necessary. The president will be with the Serb people and show that Serbia fully supports the Serb people in Kosovo and Metohija, encourages it and guarantees security as much as Serbia can do this, and relieves the growing tensions. Vucic’s visit will turn the tide and prevent further tensions," said the MP who chairs a parliamentary group for Kosovo and Metohija.
Earlier, the president announced plans to visit Kosovo and Metohija in his address to the nation over the murder of Ivanovic. The visit will take place on January 20-21, the presidential administration said.
Ivanovic, a leader of Kosovo Serbs and the head of the ‘Freedom, Democracy, Truth’ party, was gunned down on Tuesday morning while entering his party’s office in Kosovska Mitrovica. Vucic slammed Ivanovic’s murder as a terror attack against the entire people of Serbia.
In the wake of the killing, Marko Duric, who heads the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, said the Serb delegation walked out of an EU-mediate dialogue with Kosovo leaders.
Ivanovic will be laid to rest at the New Cemetery in Belgrade on Thursday.