Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Đurić said yesterday that Serbia strongly opposes the establishment of the so-called Army of Kosovo. He says that Pristina with formation of the army would give a serious blow to serious efforts for inter-ethnic reconciliation, improving the relations between Serbs and Albanians and the establishment of lasting stability.

He points out that the establishment of any military and military formation in Kosovo directly violates UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and the Military-Technical Agreement in Kumanovo, on the basis of which in 1999 the war ended.

"We ask the international community to immediately stop this dangerous escalation of political relations in the province," Đurić told reporters in Belgrade.

He pointed out that Serbian representatives in the Kosovo institutions will support such initiative neither directly nor indirectly.

As he says, the Kosovo Security Force, even armed with heavy weapons, could be a threat only to unarmed Serbian people in Kosovo, which Serbia will never allow.