Defense Minister: I Hope KFOR, EULEX Will Not Allow Barricade Removal

Milos Vucevic (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV)

On Dec. 12, Serbian Defense Minister Milos Vucevic expressed his hope that KFOR and EULEX will have “enough intelligence and resoluteness” to not allow the removal of the roadblocks in northern Kosovo and emphasized that the forced clearing of the barricades could have unforeseeable consequences. 

“Serbia is prepared to send a request to KFOR, asking for the return of [Serbian] security forces to Kosovo, and the government will be deciding on this in the next few days. This [solution] did not occur to us out of desperation, rather, it is in keeping with the legal framework provided by [U.N.S.C.] Resolution 1244 because it is obvious that the security capacities [in Kosovo and Metohija] are insufficient,” the minister told Pink TV. 

Vucevic further stated that Serbia will do everything it can to preserve peace and to seek a political accord, but underlined that this requires the good will of both sides, i.e. Belgrade and Pristina. Asked to comment on German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock’s statement that the return of Serbian Armed Forces to Kosovo would be unacceptable, Vucevic said that he was unaware that Baerbock had assumed the roles of the U.N. Security Council and KFOR and “given herself the right to forejudge the decisions other have yet to make.” 

On Dec. 11, Baerbock tweeted that Kosovo authorities had made efforts to de-escalate tensions by postponing the local elections in four north Kosovo municipalities, while Serbia proper’s rhetoric is doing the exact opposite. “The idea of sending Serbian forces to Kosovo is absolutely unacceptable. As are the recent attacks on EULEX. All my support to the dialogue led by Miroslav Lajcak,” wrote the German minister.