Belgrade-based daily Vecernje Novosti in an article published on Monday, refutes claims of the Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, who said that around 40 Serbs from Pomoravlje region applied to join the Kosovo army.

The daily further writes only two Serbs from the village of Gornje Kusce have applied. It also reported on a statement of Novo Brdo mayor Svetislav Ivanovic, who said that all Serb members of the Kosovo Security Forces (KSF) from the area have left the KSF last year, with exception of two or three officers.

“Application of two young Serbs from Gornje Kusce is a sort of a trick, for the sake of alleged economic benefits,” Ivanovic told Vecernje Novosti.

Srpska Lista Deputy Chair Igor Simic told the daily that very few applicants from the Serbian community have applied during the latest call, less than 0.1 percent out of the total number of applications.

“The fact that someone in Pristina misuses poor economic situation and blackmails cannot create even an illusion of a democracy and multiethnicity, as Haradinaj and others want to depict it,” Simic said.

Serbian Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin also reacted saying that “Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija were always under pressure to become part of the so-called Kosovo, and now they are being forced to become part of a paramilitary formation that should serve to expel Serbs and cause conflict with the Serbian Army.”