BELGRADE, May 31. /TASS/. Serbia is dissatisfied with KFOR, the NATO-led international security force in Kosovo, as it helped the unrecognized republic’s police force to occupy the north of the province, Serbian Defense Minister Milos Vucevic said on Wednesday.
"Serbia is disturbed by the actions of KFOR. They helped the Kosovar police, setting up a cordon near the occupied administrative building [in the Serbian municipality of] Zvecan, thus helping the Kosovar police special forces units to fully carry out the occupation. This does not fall within the scope of KFOR’s duties; [instead] they should have led the Kosovar Albanian police south of the Ibar [River]; that is their job," Vucevic said.
"The purpose of EULEX [the EU mission in Kosovo and Metohija] and KFOR, and they are the sole parties authorized [to act], is to ensure the security of all of the province’s residents, according to [UN Security Council] Resolution 1244. They are the only ones with a mandate to ensure security, and not to stand in front of unarmed civilians and well-armed Kosovar police who have occupied [the buildings]," the top military official pointed out, adding that the demonstrations were entirely peaceful.
Earlier, Serbian Defense Minister Milos Vucevic defined the situation in the north of the province as "extremely difficult due to Pristina’s unilateral, illegal, illegitimate decisions," and, above all, due to attempts "to occupy the north of Kosovo and Metohija by the Albanian administration in Pristina."
The situation in the Leposavic, Zubin Potok, and Zvecan municipalities in northern Kosovo and Metohija escalated on May 26 after Kosovo law enforcement officers tried to seize local administrative buildings in a bid to enable the new mayors of these municipalities, who were elected despite nearly the entire Serbian population boycotting the elections, to take office. On May 29, KFOR cordoned off the administrative buildings, clashing with Serbian protesters.
According to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, 52 Serbs sought medical assistance in Kosovska Mitrovica. Three of them were badly wounded. KFOR said that 40 of its troops - servicemen from the Italian and Hungarian contingents - were wounded.
Serbian Defense Minister Milos Vucevic said on Monday that the Serbian army had been put on high alert following the escalation in Kosovo and Metohija and that army units had been deployed along the administrative border with Kosovo.