Tanjug News Agency
December 12, 2022

Vucic: Gov’t request for deployment of Serbian troops to Kosovo due on Thursday

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced on Monday the Serbian government would on Thursday make a decision to send a request to KFOR to ensure a presence of Serbian troops in the north of Kosovo-Metohija.

“The government session is on Thursday and, as things stand, the government will make a decision to send a letter to the KFOR commander,” Vucic told reporters.

The government session will be held in the afternoon, after which [NATO’s] KFOR will receive the request, he added.

====

B92
December 12, 2022

“We are ready to send armed forces to Kosovo”

Defense Minister Miloš Vučević said that Serbia will protect the sovereignty and security of all its citizens, as well as that it is committed to dialogue.

But, as he added, for the dialogue, the will of both parties is necessary.

Vucevic told TV Pink that Serbia will do more to preserve peace and find a political agreement to avoid escalation.

“For that, the will of several parties is needed. The moderators of the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina [U.S., NATO, EU – RR] are often on the side of Pristina. The situation is tense, very tense, there is an incendiary atmosphere in Kosovo,” he said.

The minister believes that the Serbs will be wise and responsible, and that they will not fall for provocations, in order to avoid conflict. “We are not afraid, but we are looking for an end to the terror against Serbs, through political dialogue. Albin Kurti wants to create conditions that make it impossible for Serbs to survive in Kosovo and Metohija,” Vucevic said, adding that Kurti is therefore constantly opening new crises.

He explained that Kurti is creating an environment for the Serbs to say that they can no longer survive there, because neither EULEX [European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo] nor KFOR protect them. “KFOR is neutral, but its neutrality is such that it considers how to remove the barricades. Everyone deals with the consequences, and they should deal with the causes. Where does Serbs’ fear and desperation to go to the barricades come from? Let [High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep] Borrell come and address them, so that they could inform him why they took to the streets, they were forced to do so,” Vucevic said.

…”Yesterday, a security guard at Gazivode Kostić was harassed. They tore Serbian flags. It is a festival of hypocrisy that KFOR claims that there was no raid on Gazivode,” he said.

Commenting on the statement of the head of German diplomacy that Serbia’s request to send part of the forces to Kosovo and Metohija according to resolution 1244 will be rejected, Vučević noted that Germany gives itself the right to prejudge the decision, before Serbia sent the request.

“We are absolutely ready to send forces. Due to the situation on the ground, Serbia requests that this clause of the UN Security Council resolution be activated and thus preserve the safety of Serbs, and Serbian property, churches and monasteries,” said the Minister of Defense.

He assessed that due to the reality on the ground, Serbia has the right to request the activation of that clause. “We will see if they will allow it. It is up to us to do everything that is in accordance with international law, not to show a desire for conflict, but for calm and continuation of dialogue,” he said.

Vučević pointed out that Serbia’s message is that international community should specify which agreement is in force, whether it is Kumanovo, Resolution 1244, Brussels or Washington. “Prishtina does not respect any of its obligations, and partly neither does the international community,” he said.

Vucevic hopes that there will be wisdom and determination in EULEX and KFOR not to allow the removal of the barricades by force. “It’s a road they wouldn’t like us to take. No one knows where it can take us. The Serbian community is almost exclusively moving along those blocked roads,” he said.

Vucevic assessed that every arrival of the Pristina police in the Serbian municipalities in the north, without the consent of the Serbian mayors, is a violation of the Brussels Agreement, as well as of what was guaranteed by the EU.

***

“We received intelligence information that there is a plan, that extremist Albanians change into civilian clothes, attack EULEX or KFOR and that it will be presented as an attack by Serbs. That is why it is important that our people be as calm as possible, not to fall for provocations, to defend democratically their rights. To do everything they can to avoid conflict,” said Vucevic.

He said that Kurti wants to create an atmosphere to expel the Serbs, or that the Serbs provoked the conflicts. Speaking about the statements of the Western powers, he assessed that [according to] the German head of diplomacy and European Commissioner Borrell, it turns out that the Serbs are to blame for not leaving the places where they live.

Vučević said that Serbia is not playing games, and that it is not without moves and strategies for what to do in all situations. “We know what we are doing in every moment and situation, we just see that it leads to a political resolution, not to a conflict,” said Vucevic.

He said that this does not mean that Serbia is weak and indecisive, and that it would not react, in accordance with the UN Resolution and all valid agreements.

====

Tanjug News Agency
December 12, 2022

Vucevic: Army wants no conflicts but is ready to protect country

Serbian Armed Forces want no conflicts but are ready to execute every order by the commander-in-chief and protect the country and all its citizens, Serbian Defence Minister Milos Vucevic said during a visit to army troops in the Raska and Novi Pazar garrisons in southwestern Serbia.

Vucevic gave a high assessment of their level of training and equipment.

“In a conversation with officers and soldiers, I reaffirmed my conviction and received confirmation that the Serbian Armed Forces are ready to execute any task given by the commander-in-chief to protect the integrity of our country, the sovereignty of the Republic of Serbia and all its citizens,” Vucevic said.

According to a statement released by his ministry, Vucevic said Serbia’s political leadership would do everything to maintain peace and stability but that the Serbian Armed Forces were the strongest and the most convincing deterrent to all those who wished no good to Serbia.

“With the Serbian Armed Forces, all Serbian citizens are safe. Believe in your army! The army wants no conflicts or wars whatsoever, but it is ready to protect our state and all its citizens,” Vucevic said.

====

Tanjug News Agency
December 12, 2022

Brnabic: Baerbock statement represents “stunning level of absurdity”

In a reaction to a statement by German FM Annalena Baerbock that a redeployment of Serbian troops to Kosovo-Metohija is “unacceptable”, Serbian PM Ana Brnabic has said the stance represented a “stunning level of absurdity.”

In a Twitter post on Sunday evening, Brnabic recalled that G7 FMs had in May called for addressing all crises and problems worldwide, such as the crises in Libya, Syria, Yemen and Somalia, through strict implementation of relevant UN SC resolutions.

“Now, surprisingly, the MFA of Germany is explicitly saying that the UNSCR 1244 – which stipulates that Serbia has the right to ask for the return of certain number of its security forces to Kosovo – should be ignored, because it is ‘unacceptable’,” Brnabic wrote.

“In terms of international law and stability, based on which criteria do you decide which UNSCR must be respected, and which must be ignored – e.g., in case of Libya, UNSCR 2571 must be respected, but in case of Serbia, UNSCR 1244 must be ignored? Stunning level of absurdity,” she added.

“What Serbs in Kosovo long for, is peace and stability. We, also, wouldn’t mind seeing some respect for international law, UN Charter, UNSCR… One last thing: there wouldn’t be tensions that needed to be reduced if Kurti respected agreements and didn’t breach them unilaterally,” Brnabic noted.

====

Tanjug News Agency
December 12, 2022

North of Kosovo-Metohija remains blocked

Serbs protesting against the arrest of former Kosovo Police officer Dejan Pantic are still at barricades put up in the north of Kosovo-Metohija, the RTS reported early on Monday.

The north of Kosovo-Metohija has also been blocked by Kosovo Police and the Brnjak and Jarinje administrative crossings are closed even to pedestrians.

Schools in the north of Kosovo-Metohija will be closed from Monday, the Kosovo Online news portal reported.