Dacic: We are on standby; we will protect our people

The Secretary General of the National Security Council, Ivica Dacic, said as a guest on a special RTS show that President Aleksandar Vucic had ordered the level of combat readiness to be raised, not because Serbia was preparing to intervene but to be ready for all scenarios.

"We will certainly protect our people, we hope that (the need for military intervention) will not come to that," Dacic said.

Dacic, commenting on the latest escalation of tensions in the north of Kosovo and the forcible entry of special units of the Kosovo Police into the buildings of the municipalities of Leposavic, Zvecan, and Zubin Potok, said that this was perhaps one of the most dangerous situations.

"They attack what is the basis of the survival of the Serbs in the north of Kosovo and Metohija, which is the local government that we have to keep. There is no mixed population here, so you can say that there are Albanians there. Thirteen Serbs voted in the so-called elections. Now you have some new councilors and presidents of municipalities or mayors, and from the beginning, we said that this move could cause huge conflicts and we warned the international community," Dacic said.

As he pointed out, the international community had convinced Belgrade otherwise.

"When something like this happens, they say they couldn't do anything else, he's crazy, he's an extremist and it's a new reality that no one is fixing, but they say 'let's move on,'" Dacic said.

He believes that only thanks to the prudence of the Serbs, no major incidents occurred and that now the Serbs are waiting for the international community to fulfill its part of the job - which is to eliminate the negative effects of such actions.

He points out that Albin Kurti is constantly dealing with creating crises, and that the situation of the people is getting worse and worse.

"We are not in favor of conflicts, we are in favor of a peaceful solution to all issues, but everyone must know that the whole of Serbia stands behind our people in Kosovo and Metohija, that's why Vucic ordered to raise the level of combat readiness, not because we are preparing to intervene but to be ready for all scenarios," Dacic said.

"We will certainly protect our people, we hope it will not come to that," Dacic said.