BELGRADE, December 20. /TASS/. Serbian Defense Minister Milos Vucevic called on the International NATO mission in Kosovo and Metohija (KFOR) to stop the violence and terror against Serbs in the region.

"I call on the KFOR to stop the violence and terror against Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija and urgently react to the dangerous threats made by [Prime Minister of the partially recognized Kosovo] Albin Kurti, who has no respect either for human rights, or existing European values," Vucevic said in a written statement published Tuesday.

"Serbia will not allow a new Operation Storm," the Minister said, referring to the operation that resulted in Serbs being expelled from Croatia, "or a new pogrom like in March 2004, because Serbia is a part of a civilized world, a driver of peace and stability."

Previously, Kurti opined in an interview for the Guardian that the removal of barricades in the northern part of the region "may cause casualties" and "the sooner it is completed, the better."

The situation in Kosovo escalated abruptly on December 6, when Kosovo special forces, accompanied by EU mission patrols started capturing electoral commission buildings in the northern parts of the region. The Serbian population organized itself and repelled the Kosovars, pushing them past the River Ibar. On December 8, some 350 Kosovan policemen invaded the Serb-populated northern part of the region using armored vehicles and blocked the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica.

On December 10, the Kosovan police arrested Deyan Pantic, a Serb and former policeman, under contrived charges. In response, the Serbian population started mass protests and barricaded highways in several settlements.

On December 15, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced that the Cabinet had made a decision to send a request to the NATO mission in the region to return Serbian military and police to Kosovo and Metohija in accordance with UN Security Council resolution 1244.