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Serbian Defense Minister, General Staff head inspect forces on Kosovo administrative line

Previously, authorities of the unrecognized Kosovo put its security forces on full alert

BELGRADE, December 27. /TASS/. Serbian Defense Minister Milos Vucevic and General Staff head Milan Mojsilovic inspected the troops at the administrative line between Central Serbia and Kosovo and Metohija, the Serbian Defense Ministry press office said Tuesday.

"Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Milos Vucevic and Serbian Armed Forces General Staff head Milan Mojsilovic visited some Serbian Army and police units on duty along the administrative line today. The Defense Minister made sure that the Serbian servicemen and police have high morale and are ready to quickly and decisively perform their duties. The Serbian Army has been on the highest alert since yesterday evening," the press office said.

Previously, authorities of the unrecognized Kosovo put its security forces on full alert. In response, Defense Minister Vucevic and Minister of the Interior Bratislav Gasic said that the Serbian Armed Forces and police forces had been put on full alert under the order of the Commander-in-Chief, President Aleksandar Vucic.

The situation in Kosovo and Metohija escalated abruptly on December 6, when the regional special forces, accompanied by patrols of the EU mission to Kosovo, started capturing electoral commissions in the northern part of Kosovo and Metohija. The Serb population organized itself and pushed the Kosovars back past the River Ibar. On December 8, some 350 Kosovan police invaded the Serb-populated north of the autonomous region on armored vehicles and blocked the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica. On December 10, the Kosovo police arrested a Serb ex-policeman Dejan Pantic under a contrived pretext. In response, the Serb population blocked highways in several settlements with barricades.

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