Mojsilovic: Situation in Kosovo very complicated; I hope KFOR will be a factor that will protect the Serbian people

Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Army, Milan Mojsilovic, stated today that he had held talks last week with the KFOR commander, Turkish General Ozkan Ulutas, and received assurances regarding the engagement of KFOR forces along the administrative line and that KFOR would have enough strength to stabilize the situation and protect the Serbian people.

General Mojsilovic announced that he would have another conversation with Ulutas on Monday.

"I expect talks with him on Monday in the context of exchanging certain information about the security situation, and I hope that KFOR, in its capacity, will have enough strength to be a stabilizing factor and protect the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija," Mojsilovic said in an interview on TV Prva.

As he added, the situation in Kosovo is very complicated.

"The situation in Kosovo and Metohija is complex and very complicated. The lack of even discussions on the topic of, conditionally speaking, normalization leaves room for anything that could be categorized as conflict. Every year, we have a certain spiral where we literally walk on the edge of larger conflicts," Mojsilovic said.

He reminded that there had been incidents in Kosovo in May and September of this year and questioned who could guarantee that there would be no future incidents when there were no political options that ensured security and stability and that the situation, if nothing else, was maintained in the existing state.

"We currently have an excessive number and excessive engagement of police forces in the north; the Kosovo police forces are literally at 24 positions, whether they are special or intervention units. In addition, KFOR has increased its presence not only throughout the entire territory but also in the north of Kosovo and Metohija," Mojsilovic stated.

He added that, as someone dealing with security issues, "this doesn't inspire too much hope that a solution guaranteeing peace and stability overall will be reached."

"We have our clearly defined tasks, and we do not deviate from that, and ultimately, orders received from the Supreme Commander are fully implemented. Aside from the discussion related to our agreed relations in the context of the Military-Technical Agreement and everything related to Resolution 1244 and our deployment in the Ground Safety Zone, since 2001, the size of the forces has changed to a greater or lesser extent. Essentially, we are present and fully control the Ground Safety Zone," Mojsilovic said.