BELGRADE, May 29. /TASS/. Serbia’s army has been put on high alert amid the escalation in Kosovo and Metohija and is ready to fulfill any order issued by Supreme Commander-in-Chief and President Aleksandar Vucic, Serbian Defense Minister Milos Vucevic said on Monday.

"At 2:00 p.m. (3:00 p.m. Moscow time - TASS) today, we will finish deploying our army units [along the administrative border of Kosovo and Metohija] according to plan. And in accordance with Friday’s order from the Serbian president to put the army on high alert, Serbian army units will be ready to fulfill any order they receive from the president and supreme commander-in-chief in the hope that a political solution will be found," he said.

According to the minister, the NATO-led international security force in Kosovo (KFOR) "are defending the Pristina police and usurpers" from the Serbian people who came to administrative buildings bare-handed. "They (the Pristina police - TASS) are armed with submachine guns and armored vehicles, and are backed by KFOR on top of that," he stressed.

He expressed the hope that a political solution to the situation in northern Kosovo and Metohija would be found, recalling that US Ambassador to the unrecognized republic of Kosovo Jeffrey Hovenier has invited the illegally elected mayors of the Zvecan, Zubin Potok, and Leposavic municipalities for consultations.

Earlier, KFOR forces blocked access to the buildings housing the municipal administrations of the cities of Zvecan, Zubin Potok, and Leposavic. The Serbian Security Council said in a statement that in violation of its mandate, KFOR forces had ignored the aggressive activity of Kosovo law enforcement agencies in the Serb municipalities and failed to prevent attempts by Pristina’s self-proclaimed authorities to take control of the administrative buildings.

The situation in four municipalities in northern Kosovo and Metohija escalated on Friday after Kosovo law enforcement officers tried to seize the buildings of local administrations, despite the resistance of local residents. The Kosovo police reportedly used tear gas and flash bang grenades. According to the local mass media, a police car was set on fire in the Zvecan municipality and armored vehicles were reportedly deployed to the site. In response to the actions of the Kosovo authorities, Belgrade put its army on high alert and deployed troops to the administrative border with Kosovo.

Pristina insists that the new mayors of the four municipalities, who were elected despite nearly the entire Serb population boycotting the elections, take their offices.

Elections to local self-governments in four municipalities - Zvecan, Zubin Potok, Leposavic and North Mitrovica - in northern Kosovo and Metohija were held on April 23. The elections were boycotted by the Serb List party because of Pristina’s non-fulfilment of its commitments. As a result, the voter turnout was a mere 3.47%, with 1,566 Albanians and only 13 out of 45,095 eligible Serbs taking part.