Serbian Assembly Committee for Kosovo and Metohija Chairman, Milovan Drecun told RTS Albanians in Kosovo are creating an army with the help of some NATO member states. He added, that the so-called army already exists, it is armed and organized in a military manner.
Speaking for RTS morning news edition Drecun said that this army, announced to be established on December 14, opens the room for misuse of it by the civil sector.
“Srpska Lista (SL) expects that EU and the entire international community until Friday would exert strong pressure on Pristina, so the latter gives up on legal arrangements on creating the so-called Kosovo army,” member of SL Slavko Simic said, RTV KIM reports.
Marko Jaksic, representative of the national movement of the Serbs "Fatherland", said in an interview with Belgrdae based daily Danas that the state pharmacies in Mitrovica North are not full, but he says that they were not full even before the sanctions. The shops and private pharmacies are full and adds that they would be even fuller if Belgrade allowed alternative ways of supplying goods, but official Belgrade does not allow it, so it can continue spreading the story of a humanitarian catastrophe.
Serbian leadership urges the international community and KFOR, under NATO administration, to stop Kosovo-Albanian authorities to form an army, Director of Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Marko Djuric said, Tanjug news agency reported.
Djuric added, forming of such an army would endanger peace in the Balkans. “Announced transformation of the Kosovo Security Forces into so-called “Kosovo army” would represent a serious threat to the peace and stability in the region, the most direct violation of UN SC Resolution 1244 and Kumanovo Military-Technical Agreement, Djuric underlined.
Slovakia is explicitly opposed to the transformation of the Kosovo Security Forces into an armed force, Slovak Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini has said.
Highly mobile and multi-purpose military vehicles (HMMWV) arrived from USA in Kosovo, and it is expected that these vehicles would be at the disposal of Kosovo armed forces, RTK2 reports.
RTK2 recalled that the Kosovo Government in July this year signed the agreement on purchase of 51 vehicles.
Handover ceremony was held in the premises of Kosovo Security Forces, with participation of local and USA Embassy officials.
Last week, Belgrade-based media reported that based on Washington’s instruction a contingent of modern armament was shipped to Kosovo.
The strengthening of the presence of NATO and the EU in the Balkans leads to a deeper destabilization of Europe, Sergei Lavrov has said to the Greek daily Efimerida Syntakton, quotes portal B92.
The Russian foreign minister pointed out that Moscow is concerned about these aspirations.
Representative of the Serbian List Slavko Simic told RTS that the attempt to transform KSF into the Kosovo Army is not acceptable to Serbs who expect this to be unacceptable for the international community also.
Slavko Simic said that the position of the Serbian List is clear and that they are against the violation of Resolution 1244.
New US Ambassador in Pristina Philip Kosnett said that the announced formation of Kosovo army was a "a positive step."
Kosnett told RTK broadcaster in an interview late on Thursday that "Kosovo's leaders have talked about how the Kosovo Armed Forces could participate in peace-keeping operations overseas." And according to him, they also said that "Kosovo has reached the point where instead of only being a consumer of international security that it can contribute to it."
President of the Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg agreed in today's telephone conversation that the preservation of peace and stability is of the utmost interest to Serbia and the entire region, says the Serbian Presidency, reports Radio Television of Serbia (RTS).