Vucevic: Situation in Kosovo-Metohija highly risky, Serbia has defined its red lines

BELGRADE - Serbian Defence Minister Milos Vucevic said on Wednesday the security situation in the north of Kosovo-Metohija was highly risky as a result of unilateral, illegal and illegitimate decisions by the Pristina administration.

Asked by the RTS about the magnitude of the present security risks in the north of Kosovo-Metohija, Vucevic responded that they were "high, probably the highest possible."

He reiterated that the path chosen by Pristina's PM Albin Kurti was leading to escalation, clashes, injuries, shootings and other scenes seen in the past several days.

"The security situation is highly risky due to unilateral, illegal and illegitimate decisions by the Pristina administration. First of all, we must call that by its proper name and we can try to summarise it as occupation of the north of Kosovo-Metohija by the ethnic Albanian administration from Pristina," Vucevic said.

He said Belgrade believed in political dialogue and political solutions and that, for that reason, meetings had been held with the ambassadors of Quint states, Russia and China on Tuesday.

"That is why the president had several phone conversations with all those involved in the dialogue process because it is always better to seek a political path and a political solution than to go into conflicts," he noted.

Vucevic said that, in line with the president's order, the Serbian Armed Forces were in full combat readiness and prepared to execute all tasks.

"Politically, Serbia has defined its red lines when it comes to threats to the most vital national and state interests. We are talking about scenarios where someone is killing Serbs, where physical liquidations of our people by the Kosovo police begin, where there is an expulsion or a pogrom of Serbs - all the things that were happening to us 20 or 30 years ago. Situations like those would really be not just a red alarm, but a moment when Serbia cannot just talk and sit with its arms crossed," Vucevic explained.