In a sign of rising tensions between Serbia and Kosovo, the country’s Defense Minister Milos Vucevic put the Serbian army on the “highest level of combat readiness” on Monday night.
The announcement follows unverified claims by Serbian state media that Kosovar police forces opened fire while trying to tear down barricades set up by ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo. authority in kosovo denied The incident happened.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic Said He would “take all measures to protect our people and preserve Serbia.”
NATO-led peacekeeping force Kosovo Force (KFOR) Said In another incident on Sunday, shots were fired near NATO troops patrolling in northern Kosovo. KFOR said it was unclear where the shots came from and no injuries were reported.
The wider conflict began as a war in the late 1990s, after which Kosovo declared its independence in 2008. Serbia does not recognize the sovereignty of its former province. Pristina and Belgrade have been attempting to negotiate technical issues through EU-led dialogue since 2011. Many of the 120,000 ethnic Serbs in Kosovo defy Pristina’s authority and a dispute over license plates has sparked new protests in recent months.
Kosovo’s Security Council on Monday blamed Serbia for rising tensions. accused Belgrade to “act with all available means against the constitutional order of the Republic of Kosovo.”
However, this is not the first time that the Serbian military has been placed on “high combat alert” over rising tensions in recent months. The last time was in November when several drones Allegedly entered Serbian airspace from Kosovo.