Drecun: Defender Europe 2025 should not be allowed to take place in Kosovo-Metohija

BELGRADE - The chairman of the Serbian parliamentary committee on defence and interior affairs Milovan Drecun said on Monday it was unacceptable that the KFOR commander had allowed the Defender Europe 2025 military exercise to go ahead in the Autonomous Province of Kosovo-Metohija, and noted that the exercise involved troops that should not be deployed in the territory under UNSCR 1244.

Speaking to Prva TV, Drecun said it was not a NATO exercise, but one organised by the US with its partners and allies.

This can be interpreted as Washington's message that, regardless of who is president of the US, its support for a transition of the so-called Kosovo Security Force into an armed force will be continued, Drecun said.

"What is unacceptable is definitely the fact the exercise is being staged in the territory of our southern province and that the KFOR commander has not banned it," Drecun said.

Troops involved in the exercise are not KFOR troops - which are the only troops allowed in Kosovo-Metohija under UNSCR 1244 - but troops outside of the mission, he explained.

"Secondly, it is unacceptable that members of the so-called Kosovo Security Force, which is evolving into some kind of an army of the so-called Kosovo, a so-called Kosovo armed force, are participating in all that, but the KFOR commander bears the greatest responsibility for the exercise being held in the first place," Drecun said.

The fact that Albanian, Croatian, Bulgarian and North Macedonian troops are involved is also unacceptable, Drecun said, adding that Albania was doggedly attempting to annex a part of Serbian territory, while Croatia, Bulgaria and North Macedonia are among the recognisers of the so-called Kosovo.

"To me, the fact the KFOR commander is not reacting to all that is an extremely big problem. Of course, we know he is not going to oppose the Americans but, simply put, this is an unacceptable situation," Drecun said.