Petkovic: Tripartite pact of Albania, Croatia and Pristina directly aimed against Serbia

BELGRADE - The head of the Serbian government Office for Kosovo-Metohija Petar Petkovic said on Tuesday defence cooperation among Albania, Croatia and Pristina was a direct threat to regional stability in the Western Balkans, and noted that the tripartite pact was directly aimed against Serbia.

Commenting on a Zagreb-Tirana-Pristina meeting at the level of directors for defence policies and arms, Petkovic said Serbia, as a militarily neutral country and a pillar of stability in the region, was an obvious target of the tripartite pact and that it was clear that the cooperation among Croatia, Albania and Pristina was not motivated by economic interests or a need to contribute to regional prosperity, but by malignant intentions.

"Albania and Croatia are also a part of a larger military alliance and, as sovereign states, they can cooperate as they wish. However, Pristina's joining of some kind of formal security initiatives, contrarily to collective regional interests and UNSCR 1244, is a direct provocation and an attack on vital Serbian state and national interests," Petkovic noted.

He said Serbia's southern Kosovo-Metohija province was a post-conflict area where an international military presence, KFOR, was in charge of peace and security and that this was a more than sufficient framework Croatia and Albania were already participating in.

"However, Pristina's formal joining of some kind of defence and security arrangements is a dangerous precedent and an open demonstration of animosity towards Serbia as a peaceful and well-intentioned neighbour," Petkovic noted.