The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, has placed the Army on maximum combat alert due to the situation in Kosovo and Metojia, official sources reported today.
Defense Minister Milos Vucevic confirmed in an interview with TV Pink that the Army was placed on high combat alert and Serbian troops were ordered to head towards Kosovo and Metojia, after the acts of violence committed. by the Kosovar Albanian police.
“The president gave the order to put the army on high combat alert because what (Kosovar Prime Minister Albin) Kurti is doing is taking us to the red lines and threatening the safety of people living in that territory,” Vucevic said. , quoted by the Sputnik agency.
Vucic’s move comes after Kosovar authorities attempted to appoint Albanian mayors in northern Kosovo after local self-government body elections held there on April 23.
Local Serbs boycotted these self-governing bodies.
Previously, the online edition of the Vecernje novosti newspaper had published that “President Aleksandar Vucic, Commander-in-Chief of the Serbian Armed Forces, signed an order placing the country’s Army on maximum combat alert and ordered to urgently move towards the line administrative with Kosovo and Metojia.
The Serbian daily also highlights that the “head of state demanded that NATO immediately stop the violence against the Serbs” in Kosovo and Metojia.
According to the Kosovo online portal, several people were hospitalized
s this Friday in the “divided” city of North Mitrovica after a clash with the Kosovo police. The officers blocked the town halls of Leposavic, Zubin Potok and Zvecan in northern Kosovo.
Local Serbs congregated in front of the buildings to prevent the entry of police and Kosovar Albanian officials. Shortly after the clashes began.
Police entered the Zvecan town hall and used tear gas and flash grenades, shots were also heard. In Leposavic the telephone communication was cut, while in North Mitrovica air raid alarms sounded.
Kosovo, populated mostly by Albanians, proclaimed unilateral independence from Serbia in 2008, being recognized by the United States, Canada and most of the member countries of the European Union, but not by Serbia itself, Russia, China, Spain, Greece, Iran and other nations.
But also. Kosovo is home to an estimated 120,000 Serbs, many of whom remain loyal to Belgrade, especially in the northern areas near the border, where there are frequent riots, demonstrations and occasional outbreaks of violence.
Source: Ambito
