BELGRADE, December 30. /TASS/. Serbia’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic met with Russian Ambassador to Belgrade Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko to inform him about the current situation in Kosovo and Metohija and discuss bilateral ties and international cooperation, the Serbian foreign ministry said on Friday.
"The sides exchanged New Year greetings between the two ministers. They also discussed prospects for the further development of bilateral cooperation. The diplomats also exchanged views on key topics of mutual interest and on further cooperation in the international sphere. Minister Dacic expressed gratitude for Russia’s strong support for Serbia’s territorial integrity and informed the Russian ambassador about the current situation in Kosovo and Metohija," it said.
The situation in Kosovo was aggravated dramatically on December 6, when the Kosovo police along with EULEX (European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo) patrols began to seize premises housing electoral commissions in northern Kosovo and Metohija. Local Serbs repelled the Kosovars, who fled across the Ibar River. Two days later, on December 8, around 350 Kosovo policemen in armored cars intruded into the Serb-inhabited northern Kosovo and blocked the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica. On December 10, the Kosovo police detained Dejan Pantic, a former Serbian policeman, on dubious charges. In response, the Serb population erected barricades along a highway in several locations and took to the streets in protest.
On December 26, Kosovo’s armed forces were put on high alert. In response, Serbia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Milos Vucevic and Interior Minister Bratislav Gasic said that President Vucic had ordered that the country’s armed forces and interior troops be put on alert too. The situation was stabilized on December 28.