KFOR Commander Major-General Salvatore Couci said KFOR was ready to intervene during the visit of the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Serbian media report today.

In a statement to Prva TV, General Couci said Kosovo institutions made the decision to avoid Vucic’s visit to Banje village, explaining that KFOR is a third security provider in Kosovo.

“Police comes first, then EULEX, and then it is us. We were deployed to deal with the security of the Serbian President and this is what we did. We were ready to intervene in all areas where the President of Serbia was, in order to enable a safe environment. This is what we did, and everything went well, except in the village of Banje,” General Couci said.

“This village is located in an area, that has its history and is sensitive. Police was there, and we were on the ground, as some commentators confirmed, ready to intervene. But I think it was a wise decision of your president to keep the situation calm, and to have it under control.”

“If we had intervened, the situation would perhaps be different and with different outcome,” General Couci underlined, adding that a peaceful solution was a wise decision and that is why general impression about the Vucic’s visit in Kosovo is that everything went well. “That was the main reason why we did not react,” Couci said.

He refuted comments that KFOR did nothing in order to remove barricaded in the village of Banje, and that KFOR was a mute observer of the situation. He added that Kosovo police was dealing with protestors and unrests. “It takes time to reach an agreement with the protestors. That was the reason, because stronger reaction was avoided, in order for the situation to remain calm and to have the visit continued in accordance with the plan,” General Couci stressed.