Pacolli seeks international reaction after Vučić's statements on changing the course of the Ibar River

Acting Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning, Fitore Pacolli, has reacted to the statements of the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, who said that the possibility of changing the flow of the Ibar River in the territory of Serbia is being considered, and that he has invited experts for this. 

Pacolli said that these statements about the possibility of interference in water resources and infrastructure related to the Iber-Lepenc system are deeply concerning and unacceptable. 

Pacolli said that according to the Helsinki Convention, states have an obligation to cooperate for the fair and reasonable use of transboundary waters, to prevent transboundary damage and to protect aquatic ecosystems. 

She has called on the European Union, the United States of America, the United Nations and international partners to react to Vučić's statements. 

"Water resources cannot be used as an instrument of threat, pressure or destabilization against another state. Lake Ujman and the Iber-Lepenc system are critical strategic infrastructure of the Republic of Kosovo. This system is vital for the supply of drinking water to hundreds of thousands of citizens, for the functioning of the energy sector, for agriculture and for the environmental balance of an important part of the country. Therefore, any statement or action aimed at interfering, damaging, diverting or unilaterally changing water flows and water infrastructure, with consequences for Kosovo, is not a matter of daily politics. It is a matter of water, energy, environmental and human security, and must be treated with maximum seriousness by the international community. We call on the European Union, the United States of America, the United Nations and other international partners to react to such statements and demand full respect for the principles and obligations of international law on transboundary waters," Pacolli wrote on Facebook. 

She said that Kosovo will protect its water resources, critical infrastructure and the interests of its citizens in accordance with the Constitution, the laws of Kosovo and the principles of international law.