Vucevic: Situation in Kosovo disturbing, life for Serbs unsustainable

Minister of Defense Milos Vucevic emphasizes that the situation in Kosovo is, at the very least, disturbing and that life for Serbs living there is unsustainable, RTV reports.

According to Vucevic, since the arrival of Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti in power, the number of Serbs in Kosovo has decreased by 11 percent, and he fears this trend will continue.

"We sincerely admire all Serbs who stay and survive in Kosovo and Metohija all these years. It's a life in impossible conditions. None of us can perceive what's happening and what kind of life it is," Vucevic stated on TV Prva.

The Minister of Defense mentioned that it particularly irritates him when someone from central Serbia participates in labeling and stigmatizing Serbs as centers or places of organized criminal groups, and, as he put it, plays a "double pass," in football terms, with Kurti "to create legitimacy for everything done to Serbs."

Addressing allegations that Serbia is amassing troops on the administrative line, Vucevic said that we would see some political demands, consequences, and goals in the coming days.

"During the crisis with the barricades at the end of 2022, we were deceived as a state and as a people. At that time, we had just over 13,000 members of the Serbian Army and special units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in that area around the administrative line and in garrisons nearby. Now, two days after the events in Banjska, we had 8,350," Vucevic said.

As he mentioned, there is currently a barrage of accusations from the international community that Serbia is amassing something.

"Today, we have less than 4,500 members of the Serbian Army on the part of the sovereign territory of the Republic of Serbia where our army is free to move. We have no restrictive provisions for the land safety zone – how many people we can have or how much equipment and weaponry we can deploy in that area," the minister stated.

Vucevic said that they were currently disengaging, not withdrawing, some units and that they were returning to their garrisons and barracks and their regular activities.

"The Serbian Army and the Ministry of Defense monitor everything that happens in that area, which, according to all international laws and rules, belongs to the Republic of Serbia, as it poses a significant security risk and threat to Serbia," Vucevic added.