Vucic: Serbia to Ask For Return of Army to Kosovo

Members of the Army of Serbia

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Dec. 10 that a demand for the Kosovo Force (KFOR) had been prepared with the Government of Serbia, to secure the deployment of Serbian army and police in Kosovo under the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244.

Vucic said at a press conference that the Government would reach a decision on Dec. 12 or Dec. 13, and forward the request to KFOR. The president read out the part of the Resolution allowing a certain number of Serbian military and police personnel to return to Kosovo.

“We do not harbor any illusion that they will accept it. They will invent a million reasons to say that it is not necessary,” Vucic said, promising that the state would continue to explore further legal steps.

The president said that Pristina would apply for EU membership on Dec. 15, which, as he put it, was a “direct violation” of the Washington agreement. He said that on Dec. 10 he wrote to the presidents and prime ministers of the five EU states that had not recognized Kosovo's independence – Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Slovakia and Spain, because only sovereign independent states were allowed to apply for membership in the Union.