U.S. Calls on Serbia to Withdraw Forces from “Kosovo Border,” Vucic Says Not Sending Army to Kosovo

Aleksandar Vucic (Photo: Beta/Milos Miskov)

The U.S. has called on Serbia to withdraw its forces from "the border" with Kosovo, a White House spokesperson said on Sept. 29.

We are seeing significant Serbian military deployment along the border with Kosovo, including the unprecedented deployment of artillery, tanks and infantry units, said National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told the British Financial Times on Sept. 30 that he had no intention of ordering the Army of Serbia to cross the administrative line with Kosovo and would withdraw forces from the area, adding that it was "a lie" that Serbia was piling up troops there.

According to Radio Free Europe, Vucic said an escalation of the conflict would be counterproductive in light of Serbia's ambition to join the European Union and stressed that Washington's warnings were disproportionate because the number of Serbian forces on the ground was declining. "Last year we had 14,000 people close to the administrative line, today we have 7,500 and we will cut that down to 4,000," Vucic said, adding that Serbia did not want conflict.