In light of the sharp increase in inter-ethnic tension in northern Kosovo, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, in his capacity as Supreme Head of the Armed Forces, yesterday evening ordered a
state of maximum alert
for the Balkan country's army and police forces .
In giving the news, the media in Belgrade report that the decision was taken due to the need to defend the Serbian population in the face of what are believed to be the growing provocations and threats to their safety and physical integrity by the Pristina authorities.
The fears primarily concern a possible intervention by the Kosovan police and security forces to remove the roadblocks and barricades that local Serbs have been implementing for 17 days in northern Kosovo in protest against the deemed unjustified arrest of three Serbs and for sending massive Kosovo police forces to the Serb-majority north.
However, a protest that concerns the general policy of the Kosovar leadership deemed hostile and discriminatory towards the Kosovo Serbs.
Serbia, said First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Daci, is ready to intervene in the event of an attack on the Kosovo Serbs.
Even if, he added, Belgrade is always committed to solving all problems through dialogue and maintaining peace in the region.
"We are for peace and dialogue, but if it comes to physical attacks and the killing of Serbs, and if the KFOR does not intervene, Serbia will be forced to do so", said Dacic quoted by the media.
At the time, the Foreign Minister recalled the three red lines that Belgrade considers insurmountable: the creation of the Community of Serbian municipalities in Kosovo;
the firm no to the independence of Kosovo and to its eventual admission to the UN and other important international organisations;
the defense of the security and physical safety of the Kosovo Serbs.
