Defense Minister: Number of Troops Decreased in Land Security Zone

Milos Vucevic, Bujanovac, June 22 2023 (BETAPHOTO/Ministry of Defense)

Serbian Defense Minister Milos Vucevic stated on Oct. 4 that in the Land Security Zone, stretching along the administrative boundary line between Kosovo and Serbia, slightly under 4,500 troops were stationed currently, whereas two days after a shooting in the village of Banjska 8,350 soldiers were engaged in the area.

“It’s the de-engagement of troops, not a withdrawal. The soldiers are returning to their garrisons and barracks, to their regular duties. It goes without saying that the Army of Serbia and the Ministry of Defense, together with the Military Intelligence Agency and the Military Security Agency, are monitoring carefully all developments in Kosovo and Metohija,” Vucevic said in an interview with the Prva TV.

The defense minister underlined that under international agreements there were no restrictions as to troop numbers in the Land Security Zone. In a comment on the allegations that Serbia’s “military buildup” was a mechanism to prepare the country to do something, and that Serbia had trained the group of armed attackers involved in the shootout in Banjska, the minister said “it’s all nonsense, aimed at discrediting Serbia politically.”

Minister Vucevic also said that the international community preferred to “keep silent” to the fact that 11 percent of the Serbs living in Kosovo were displaced since Albin Kurty had been named the prime minister of Kosovo.