The Serbian army was on heightened alert Monday evening December 26 after recent tensions in neighboring Kosovo, where shootings and explosions took place and where roadblocks were erected.
"
The President of Serbia ... ordered the Serbian army to be at the highest level of combat readiness, that is, at the level of the use of armed force
," said Serbian Defense Minister Milos Vucevic in a statement.
General Milan Mojsilovic, head of the Serbian armies, announced that he had been dispatched by the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic to the border with Kosovo.
“
The situation there is complicated
,” the chief of staff told Pink television on Sunday evening, en route to Raska, ten kilometers from the border with Kosovo.
He added that it required “
the presence of the Serbian army along the administrative line
”, a term used by the Serbian authorities to designate the border with Kosovo.
The Serbian Interior Ministry said that "
all units
" would come "
immediately under the command of the Chief of the General Staff
".
Finally, the Minister of Defense clarified that the Head of State has ordered to reinforce the Serbian military presence from the current 1500 soldiers to 5000.
Serbia does not recognize the independence of its former southern province, populated overwhelmingly by Albanians, which it proclaimed in 2008. It encourages the 120,000 Serbs in Kosovo to challenge the local authorities, when Pristina wants to establish its sovereignty throughout the territory.