Global Courant
Belgrade Serbia
The Serbian president said on Saturday that the Kosovo prime minister wants to drag Serbia into a war with NATO.
“(Albin) Kurti will not stop. As a result, he does not want to establish the Community of Serbian Municipalities. He knows that this community (former Prime Minister of Kosovo) Isa Mustafa must abide by its principles from 2015.
Speaking to local broadcaster Pink TV, Aleksandar Vucic said: “He wants to escalate tensions, he wants to draw us into the war. He wants to be a war leader because he lacks that in his biography.”
According to Vucic, Kurti’s aim is to draw Serbia into a conflict with NATO, and it is clear to key actors that the main fault lies with the Kurti regime.
“Serbia must now be careful,” the official said.
Vucic will meet again on Saturday with Serbian representatives from Kosovo and the Metohija region.
He said that the strength of the Serbian army is incomparably greater than the Kosovo Security Forces, but that they are increasingly well armed, primarily with Turkish weapons.
The Turks gave them very powerful armored vehicles, howitzers, howitzers, howitzers, all of which are in the hands of the Kosovo Security Forces. We need to take this into account.
“NATO hasn’t let them fly Bayraktar yet, but they have tens of kilometers of visibility at night. We have to be careful. We know what we’re doing. If our people are threatened, we must have adequate means to react. These are not Stories and fairy tales, the world has changed,” added Vucic.
Kosovo Security Forces took delivery of five of Turkey’s Bayraktar TB2 drones in early May, when Defender Europe 23, the largest international exercise, began.
Turkish warplanes are considered crucial in conflicts from Karabakh to Ukraine.
Albania and Serbia have reiterated their intention to purchase warplanes, which are in high demand worldwide.
“Within five months, we (Serbia) will receive several hundred to 1,000 kamikaze drones that we have received in the Middle East. We are taking this to deter a potential aggressor,” Vucic said.
After Albanians, Serbs make up the largest ethnic group in Kosovo, especially in the north of the country, next to Serbia. Serbia has never recognized Kosovo’s 2008 independence.
The election of ethnic Albanian mayors this April amid a Serbian boycott has sparked tensions in the north. Soldiers from neighboring Serbia also piled on the border.
New elections needed: EU
The European Union has repeatedly urged Kosovo to suspend police operations in Serb-dominated northern municipalities and to declare new early local elections.
After April’s elections in northern Kosovo, the EU said low turnout among local Serbs did not provide long-term political solutions to municipalities.
Ethnic Serbs have been protesting the election of mayors since the end of May.
On 30 May, NATO decided to send another 700 soldiers to the alliance-led peacekeeping mission KFOR in Kosovo, after 30 of its soldiers were injured during the riots. Among the reinforcements was a Turkish military unit.
tension at the border
Tensions flared after Kosovo arrested one of the organizers of the 29 May attack on the NATO peacekeeping force deployed amid Serbs’ unrest over the appointment of ethnic Albanian mayors.
Serbia detained three Kosovo police officers on 14 June, saying they were “planning an action in Serbia”, but Kosovo claimed that their officers were kidnapped.
The EU requires Kosovo and Serbia to reach a final agreement and resolve their disagreements to further their integration into the bloc.
Most UN member states, including the US, UK, France, Germany and Turkey, recognized Kosovo as a separate country from its neighbor when Pristina declared its independence 15 years ago, but Belgrade continues to see it as its own territory.
Only a part of the news presented to subscribers in the AA News Broadcasting System (HAS) and in summary form are available on the Anadolu Agency website. Please contact us for subscription options.
