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Escalation in Kosovo

Serbian forces ready to enter Kosovo if president issues such order — defense minister

Milos Vucevic also stated that all maneuvers of Serbian military units on the territory of the country are carried out in accordance with national regulations, do not contradict UN Security Council Resolution 1244

BELGRADE, October 2. /TASS/. Serbian military units are ready to enter Kosovo and Metohija and carry out any missions they are assigned should the country’s president order them to do so, Serbian Defense Minister Milos Vucevic said.

"I want to repeat very clearly and precisely what I have already said many times, ladies and gentlemen, as defense minister, and this is what you have to communicate literally word for word. If the Serbian army receives an order from the President of the Republic of Serbia [Aleksandar Vucic] in his capacity of the commander-in-chief that its units should enter the territory of Kosovo and Metohija as part of the Republic of Serbia, the armed forces will carry out this task efficiently, professionally and successfully," the minister said at a news conference.

The Serbian defense minister also stated that all maneuvers of Serbian military units on the territory of the country are carried out in accordance with national regulations, do not contradict UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and should not concern representatives of the international community.

The prime minister of the unrecognized state of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, said earlier that armed men in masks, supported by Serbian officials, attacked police officers in the north of the province overnight into September 24, killing one of them. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic later said in an address to the nation that Kosovo police units had killed three Serbs and that the NATO-led Kosovo Force had effectively given Kurti carte blanche to kill Serbs in the north of the province. He said KFOR members assisted Kosovo police in the operation against local Serbs. Vucic said that after what happened, Belgrade would never recognize the province's independence.

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Serbia Escalation in Kosovo

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