Mojsilovic: Security situation in Serbia stable

BELGRADE - Serbian Armed Forces Chief of General Staff Gen Milan Mojsilovic says the security situation in Serbia is stable but that certain challenges and risks do exist, above all, the Autonomous Province of Kosovo-Metohija, and noted that the Serbian Armed Forces are fully capable of executing assigned missions and tasks - chiefly, of protecting Serbia and its citizens from external armed threats.

In an interview for Vecernje novosti on occasion of Serbian Armed Forces Day - April 23 - Mojsilovic said the army was now better equipped and better trained for offensive and defensive action, with more efficient organisation, new capabilities, new units and new modern combat systems and arms.

He said that, following a thwarted sabotage attempt on a gas pipeline section near Kanjiza, northern Serbia, the security situation in the country was stable but that certain challenges and risks remained, above all, in Kosovo-Metohija.

He said Pristina's efforts to transform the so-called Kosovo Security Force into an army and join military alliances posed a problem and ran contrary to UNSCR 1244, the Military-Technical Agreement and other agreements.

In terms of organisation, strength and operating capabilities, Pristina's formation is no match for the Serbian Armed Forces, Mojsilovic said, noting that its potential use against Serbs in the province was concerning and that, as a result, the security situation was being watched especially closely.

"To avert an escalation of the crisis and maintain alertness and preparedness to protect Serbs in the province, I maintain constant contact with the KFOR commander and the commander of the NATO joint force command in Naples," Mojsilovic said.

He said the Serbian Armed Forces' cooperation with KFOR in the province was professional, fair, direct and aimed at preserving a stable and secure environment.

"We see KFOR as the only legitimate armed formation in Kosovo-Metohija that is, in line with the mandate given to it by the UN Security Council, is obliged to ensure security and freedom of movement and that is the only one capable of protecting the Serbs in our southern province," Mojsilovic said.

Asked to what extent a Zagreb-Pristina-Tirana military alliance posed a realistic threat to Serbia, Mojsilovic said he believed the alliance was aimed against Serbia and Serbs in the region and represented a "pressure factor and a serious security challenge" for Serbia, as well as an attempt to establish the so-called Kosovo Security Force as a real army.

He added that the alliance was contrary to UNSCR 1244, the Dayton Agreement, a subregional arms control agreement and the Military-Technical Agreement.

"In defining the required capabilities, the Serbian Armed Forces have taken into account the existence of this tripartite alliance and are already capable of confronting it single-handedly, and I can tell you that they will become even stronger," Mojsilovic said.

Speaking about reinstatement of compulsory military service, Mojsilovic said the army was ready and that normative documents, training plans and methodology manuals had been prepared, with accommodation and training facilities and equipment ready for the first generation of recruits.

The Serbian Armed Forces Day is marked on April 23, the date when the Second Serbian Uprising began in 1815, representing a turning point in the creation of a modern Serbian state and army.