Vucevic: A lot of illogical issues around Banjska; KFOR to take control and calm tensions in the north

The only way to calm the situation in the north of Kosovo and Metohija is to withdraw the police forces of Pristina and for KFOR to take control, in that case everything will calm down and there will be no incidents and problems, Defense Minister Milos Vucevic said in an interview for Kosovo Online. He spoke in detail about the Pristina's illogical version of the events in Banjska, about Kurti's intention to expel the Serbs with terror, and he especially emphasized that the state interest of the Republic of Serbia was the preservation of peace.

Vucevic pointed out that the state of Serbia did not participate in the events in Banjska on September 24 in any way.

As soon as the events in Banjska on September 24 became known, accusations against the state of Serbia were immediately launched from Pristina by Albin Kurti and people from his closest circle. In what way and to what extent are the Serbian Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defense aware of the details of those tragic events, and how do you comment on the accusations of the current Kosovo authorities?

We are conducting our investigation, when I say “we” I mean the country of Serbia. Of course, we have one aggravating factor because we do not have factual or physical access to the site and we cannot collect all the facts that state authorities can do when a certain area is under their jurisdiction. Since 1999, Serbian institutions have not had physical jurisdiction over the territory of Kosovo and Metohija, and in such circumstances, it is not easy to gather all the facts. All the more, I am amazed how some people lightly give assessments about what happened, who participated, who did not participate, and I know that they have less information than people from the security sector, who are far more careful when presenting assessments and facts.

Of course, Kurti is trying, and not only him, but also those who are in the so-called the international community, the sponsors of its policy or the so-called of independent Kosovo, to use this to label Serbia as a sponsor of what they define as terrorism. And it is not enough to deal with the Serbs from the north of Kosovo and Metohija now, but in order to gain legitimacy and legality for what they are doing, they need to make that connection between the state of Serbia and what they see as a danger to their criminal policy  certainly. In addition, their emphasis is on the fact that someone from Serbia sponsored it, helped it, participated in any way. The country of Serbia did not participate in the events in Banjska on September 24, and for several reasons you can clearly conclude that.

What are the most important indicators of this?

What is extremely questionable for us is the collection of evidence, the determination of the factual situation, what Pristina officially markets. Making it impossible for the families of those killed, martyred, almost shot, to still receive the bodies of their family members. The display of confiscated weapons and military equipment is very strange - almost everything is unpacked. Pay attention to one detail, one of the killed Serbs, who is marked as an alleged terrorist, has a cocked rifle. When you look at the picture of the murdered Serb, probably shot, you see that his automatic rifle is jammed. What kind of terrorist activism or combat position is that? That rifle was not primed to fire, elementary thing. And many more small details that cast a lot of doubt or ask many questions about what and how happened in the north of Kosovo and Metohija in the previous week, we would like to participate as a state in collecting those facts, to allow our authorities to be able to participate in the collection of everything with EULEX of what is important to get the whole picture.

What will the state authorities of Serbia be able to do?

What I can say in front of the State of Serbia, in front of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, we will listen to all persons who are in the territory of central Serbia, for whom there is an indication that they were possibly in that location, that is, that they participated in those events. Of course, the Republic of Serbia condemned the murder of the Albanian policeman. This is not a good thing, because it not only causes pain to the family of the murdered person, but also creates political and security problems for the entire Serbian community and the whole of Serbia. But also, Serbia cannot remain deaf, blind and oblivious to the persecution and murder of Serbs, to the literal shooting of Serbs in the surrounding forests, to the passive attitude of KFOR.

The manner in which KFOR and EULEX behaved throughout the event left many doubts and illogicalities. How do you comment on that?

KFOR seems to be an observation mission, not an armed force. They have a Nothing Hill Camp very close to where these tragic events took place. How is it possible that KFOR did not enter in that capacity or with sufficient capacity and stopped the entire development of that event? Why didn't EULEX take over the jurisdiction and conduct a police investigation or control? Who allowed it to last for hours, for the hunt for Serbs to last for hours?

Look at what Pristina publishes, they followed that group of Serbs with drones, they knew all the time what and how it was happening, and something else - what kind of terrorist act is it where everything is not unpacked, not prepared for action, and you say that they were the first to attack what you define as the police. Our military experts analyzed the pictures, the grenade launcher was unpacked, that is, it was not installed, it was not prepared for action. Ammunition in some boxes, buckets, so the frames, cartridges were not loaded, there was no preparation, was is no assumption that someone was ready to act. Someone has really been preparing this scenario and there is a lot ahead of us that needs to be clearly established, and now Kurti is using this as his argument. He says, you see, these are criminal, terrorist organizations in the north, to continue with their actions, to continue with the pressure, to create until the end that atmosphere that the life of Serbs in the north of Kosovo is unsustainable, so that people say 'we can't live here anymore'. Armored vehicles enter every day, special forces under masks, with long pipes. Houses, hospitals, shops, banks are raided, people are arrested, they are labeled as terrorists and criminal groups, that they have the right to do literally whatever they want just to tell the Serbs 'you are not welcome in Kosovo and Metohija'. It is a policy that is being implemented. Unfortunately, a part of the international community is very mute or is so silent on everything that is happening and they are missing that button that would be ideal for all Serb haters - to show that Belgrade was a sponsor of what they say is terrorism. Then they have a complete stained glass window, a complete picture, they put all the pieces and parts in place and said that's it, now Serbia needs to be punished, the Serbs should be expelled from Kosovo and Metohija and that issue should be resolved once and for all.

What does this behavior of KFOR tell the Serbs, can they expect a guarantee of security for their future life in the area where they live?

Without justifying or looking for a reason that could lead to justifying the murder of an Albanian policeman in the north, for a moment we have to turn to the causes, not the consequences, what are the causes of everything that happened on Sunday in the north of Kosovo and Metohija. That is the non-formation of the Community of Serbian Municipalities, i.e. non-respect of the Brussels Agreement, that is the removal, suspension of the commander of the North region in front of the Serbian community, the commander of the Kosovo police, that is the installation of fake, imposed mayors in four municipalities in the north of Kosovo and Metohija, that is the creeping occupation of the north of Kosovo and Metohija with an increased number of special policemen, with the construction of bases, checkpoints, with the constant activity of those who, according to the Brussels Agreement, do not have the right to be in the north of Kosovo and Metohija - I am talking about their special units, long guns.

They built Jasenovik, Kosutovo, several checkpoints, a base on the Bistrica Bridge, on all the main roads. They literally occupied every place in the north of Kosovo and Metohija in some way, i.e. put them under their physical control and imposed a monopoly of physical coercion on the part of their units, their people, who are not from the north of Kosovo and Metohija and who are not allowed to be there according to Brussels agreement, which is guaranteed by the EU, by the international community, until they set the so-called mayors in four municipalities in the north of Kosovo and Metohija, who are brought to work in armored vehicles or are not allowed to leave the office for two or three weeks. Imagine what a job it is, people. Whose mayor are you?

All of this is a sequence that leads us, unfortunately, to what happened on Sunday, September 24, and about which President Vucic warned, spoke, talked about, not only at the United Nations a few days ago, but at all rounds of dialogue, in all meetings with international representatives, with all diplomats. Serbia is talking about it, Serbia warned, it is leading us to it - it is a policy that leads to escalation, not de-escalation. It is a policy that leads to complete madness because Kurti has nothing to lose, he wants war, conflicts, he wants to drag Serbia into conflict, not with his para-units and the so-called with the police, but above all with the NATO pact.

We are very dissatisfied with the reaction of KFOR. KFOR had to take control of that locality and stop any conflict. It had capacity, it has legitimacy, a legal basis and it was installed as a mission that must control the situation on the ground and take care of security. When they saw that the situation is getting worse, that there are shootings, murders, when you see the large amount of weapons as everyone claims, isn't that a call for KFOR to take control. So where is EULEX to conduct the investigation, so what is the mission of EULEX? To stand on the sidelines while the Kosovo Police are doing the work? Two members stand on the sidelines or are not even allowed to come to the north of Kosovo because Pristina won't let them.

What is the purpose of EULEX, what is the purpose of KFOR? To hear from the Serbian Army and ask what is happening in the Land Security Zone or on our side of the administrative line? No, you had to be the first responder to such a situation.

What do they say in KFOR?

There is no answer - these are empty technical answers, that the Kosovo police have the right to react, a terrorist attack. More or less the same thing that favors Kurti and that part of the media in Belgrade, unfortunately, promotes. Unfortunately, because you have a part of the media in Belgrade who are the biggest promoters and those who transmit everything Kurti's media writes or what Kurti declares. It comes to Belgrade faster than to some Pristina media.

I sincerely admire the Serbian life in Kosovo and Metohija, it is obviously a nation that has jumped over all those borders, which each of us has, and said that they want to stay there at all costs. Our people, who are there today, are ready to do anything to stay in their space, on their hearths, and we must not allow this fabrication and labeling of an entire nation and those of our people that they are terrorists, that they are some terrorist cells, that we are we some criminal gangs because if we enter that narrative it is the self-destruction of a nation and a state.

In October, the Turkish command comes to head KFOR, and we know that Turkey is the main sponsor of Kosovo and helps to a large extent in arming and strengthening the Kosovo armed forces. How much will this affect the further role of KFOR?

To be fair, more or less all contributory countries in KFOR are in some way patrons of Kosovo's independence, the vast majority of them.

The KFOR commander is coming from Turkey. We had communication with the Turkish Ministry of Defense, the Turkish state, to establish those lines of communication. Let's see how it will develop further - whether it is easy and light for us, it is definitely not, there is also a lot of symbolism, there are many things that are repeated historically, whether it is accidental or not, let everyone decide.

Turkey is one of the major sponsors of arming and equipping the so-called of the Kosovo Security Forces and the promoter or sponsor of the transformation of the KSF into what they see tomorrow as the Kosovo Army, the New Albanian Army. When they say 'Kosovo', it's a purely Albanian story, let's not lie. The fact that they find one Roma and one Bosniak and one quasi-Serb is all an Albanian component, an Albanian story. They are trying to create a new Albanian state, Kurti's policy is to create a great Albania, his policy is not just an independent Kosovo, since apparently the majority of Serbs cannot recognize that either. His policy leads to the unification of all Albanian territories. He doesn't hide it, he performs like that everywhere. People, you should only listen to what he says and what he does. Everything is very clear, there is nothing mystical or hidden, everything is transparent with him.

At this moment, we have reduced communication with KFOR to a minimum to that technical level that must exist. We expect KFOR to take control in the north of Kosovo and Metohija. We think that the only way to calm the situation in the north of Kosovo and Metohija is to withdraw the police forces of Pristina and for KFOR to take control in the north. You will see that everything will calm down and that there will be no incidents and problems. The Serbian community, the Serbs, have no problem with KFOR and with the fact that they control the issue of security in the north, and I see that in the previous days there were some initiatives, ideas, even the Prime Minister of Albania came out with such a message. Aside from the fact that we and Albania differ in many respects regarding the position, status, fate of Kosovo and Metohija, but that could be a way to calm passions so that we have an interest in cooperating with KFOR and we are dissatisfied with KFOR's reaction on Sunday. We think that he should have been far more agile, far more active, and that above all he should have prevented the hunting of Serbs that took place that day as well, but unfortunately is still taking place today.

Even now, while we are talking in the Ministry of Defense, in the north of Kosovo and Metohija, some of the actions in a series of Albanian police against the Serbian community are ongoing.

What is the assessment of the current risk of further flare-up of tensions?

High.

Is there a danger of an uncontrolled spread of incidents, which might force the Serbian Army to act?

Our national interest, Serbian, the state interest of the Republic of Serbia is to preserve peace. We win in peace, but in conflict we can only lose. There are red lines and I will not repeat everything that the President of the Republic said. The message of the state of Serbia is very clear - we will never recognize Kosovo as an independent state, all that they are doing will not lead to Serbia's political capitulation, and I believe that these tragic events, all the problems we have, maybe we should see as a moment for an even stronger political unification for the political struggle for the rights of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, for the survival of Serbia in Kosovo and Metohija, for the survival of Serbia. So that we don't all go whining and lamenting, that we don't forever look for someone to blame, that we don't divide into two extreme columns - one of those who think that now we should give up everything and surrender, and the other who thinks that now we should start the third world war, but that we firmly believe in peace politically, we strongly defend Serbian politics, the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija and our entire homeland, Serbia.

This is not a moment for anyone to waver, this is not a moment when we should be discouraged, this is not a moment for defeatism, this is a moment for political mobilization, for strengthening, unity, for a strong political struggle for Serbian national interests, for the interests of our people in Kosovo .

How do you assess the level of preparedness of the Serbian Armed Forces at the moment for all the tasks and challenges that could possibly be put before it and how significant is that from the point of view of deterring enemy action?

The Serbian Army is ready to respond to all the tasks that the state leadership puts before it, and there is no doubt that the Armed Forces are trained and equipped for all the tasks that can be put before the armed forces of a country, both in terms of the human factor and equipment and armament. Of course, what happened to us and what is happening to us, warns us and indicates that we must finish some processes even faster, that we must go even more strongly to strengthen the defense capacities of our country, to carry out even faster the processes we are in and more and more carefully and carefully we procure all that is necessary to preserve our independence, to preserve our state. I am proud of the fact that yesterday, with the help of the President and the Government we signed a record contract for the procurement of armaments and the modernization of weapons and equipment for the Serbian army not produced in Serbia.

Everything that happened around the Banjska monastery and in the north of Kosovo and Metohija is also a warning, but we have to understand what the circumstances are and what surrounds us, what Pristina is doing, what kind of weaponry they have, what kind of equipment, what we are facing not only political, but also from the security aspect. We have no right to be discouraged, to be despondent, this must be an alarm for political mobilization, and this must be a call to fight even more strongly politically for the rights of our people and for the state and national interests of the state of Serbia in peace.