The Serbian president said on Monday that there was a “regular number” of 4,400 soldiers along the border with Kosovo, noting that Serbia was “the last one to need” the incident a week ago when a Kosovo policeman and three armed Serbs were killed in northern Kosovo.
The US said three days ago that it was monitoring a troubling Serbian military deployment along the border with Kosovo that is destabilizing the region, and White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters that the Kosovo Peacekeeping Mission (KFOR) would increase the presence of NATO forces in the north of the country due to growing tension.
In an interview for CNN with Christane Amanpour, Aleksandar Vučić pointed out that the incidents in the north are by no means in the interest of Serbia, “bearing in mind that the European mediators in the dialogue (with Kosovo) marked it as a constructive partner”.
He emphasized that Serbia “always appreciated” the reports that came from partners from Washington and the White House, asserting that he must state that some “are not completely accurate when it comes to the number of soldiers.”
Vučić said that last year there were “14,000 soldiers along the administrative line, a few days ago it was less than 8,400, and today it is 4,400 soldiers”, stressing that this is a “regular number”.
We always hear and listen when our partners ask us to de-escalate the situation. There is no reason to worry and we have not had any conflicts with NATO, Vučić reminded, stressing that he advocates for a greater presence of KFOR, especially in the north of Kosovo, because this is a way to protect the Serbian population.
Vučić emphasized that he did not sign any order on increasing combat readiness.
Later, in an interview with pro-government television, Happy said that in a conversation with United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken, he got the impression that the American diplomat was concerned about the Serbian army in the terrestrial security zone and that some were worried that Serbia had brought “some more sophisticated ” weapons.
“Some people there were a bit worried that we brought some of the sophisticated weapons, we didn’t bring the usual few tanks, and I think that was the reason (concern),” said Vučić on the Ćirilica TV Happy show.
I think they really believed that we wanted to enter and occupy the north of Kosovo in sync, he added.
“Our plans, you would be surprised, our first response is not the north of Kosovo at all,” said Vučić.
Earlier today, Serbian Defense Minister Miloš Vučević told reporters that if the President of Serbia orders that the troops of the Armed Forces enter “Kosovo as part of Serbia”, such a task will be carried out “efficiently, professionally and successfully”, and that – if this happens – it will certainly not be “behind the back” of KFOR, and it will be in compliance with the norms of the law of war.
After the end of the war in Kosovo and the withdrawal of the Serbian army and police, according to the Kumanovo Agreement of June 1999, KFOR is the only military force in charge of maintaining security in Kosovo.
When asked about the fact that until recently the vice president of the Serbian List in Kosovo, Milan Radoičić, took responsibility for the armed conflict in the north of Kosovo, Vučić said that this action “did not have any approval”, because Serbia is the last one that needs incidents in Kosovo due to the dynamics of the process in dialogue in which Belgrade was a constructive partner and made concessions.
