In his extraordinary press conference, which was also televised, Milan Mojcilovic noted that the Serbian people “are being terribly persecuted by the Albin Kurti regime”. As he said, Serbs became targets only because they were Serbs and did not want to leave their homeland. “The terrorism of the Kurti regime can no longer be tolerated,” the chief of staff stressed.
Milan Mojcelovic noted that the international community fails to fulfill its obligations when it does not protect local Serbs. He stressed that “Knowing the facts, I informed the head of the International Security Force in Kosovo that we demand urgent steps to protect the Serb population in Kosovo. This is what we asked KFOR and other international organizations as well.”
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Belgrade has refused to recognize it since then and still considers the Albanian-majority province a southern province. Dialogue between the two parties with the aim of normalizing relations began in 2013, but no significant progress has been made so far.
Since Serbia regards Kosovo as its own province, according to Belgrade, the jurisdiction of the Serbian military extends to that region as well. The Chief of Staff stated that according to the Serbian constitution, if an order is received from the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, the Serbian President, the Army will carry out all its duties in order to manage the security situation.
Tensions between Serbia and Kosovo have escalated in recent months. Riots broke out in Kosovo at the end of May, when, after local elections in April, which were boycotted by local Serbs, Albanian mayors, who were only 3.5 percent elected, wanted to take office in the Serb majority. populated area. Local Serbs attacked the Kosovar police and soldiers of the NATO-led peacekeeping force, KFOR. Kosovo police later arrested a Serbian man believed to be the main organizer of the attacks, and arrested other people.
At the same time, the Serbian authorities arrested three Kosovo policemen in central Serbia last Wednesday. The Serbian Prosecutor’s Office accuses them of producing, possessing, transporting and trading in unauthorized weapons and explosives and has ordered an investigation. According to Pristina, on the other hand, Kosovo police officers were not captured on Serbian territory, but on the territory of Kosovo, they were practically kidnapped.
Because of the tension, Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, invited Aleksandar Vucic and Albin Kurti to Brussels, but no progress was made at the meeting on Thursday.
Cover image: Getty Images
