Serbian President Says Expects NATO's KFOR Mission to Have Impartial Stance on Kosovo
© AFP 2023 / ARMEND NIMANI
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BELGRADE (Sputnik) - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Wednesday told Adm. Stuart Munsch, commander of NATO's Joint Force Command in Naples, that he expects the Kosovo Force (KFOR) to have an unbiased and proactive position on the situation in the breakaway region.
Last week, Vucic called on the NATO contingent in Kosovo to take over security in the region's north from local police in light of armed clashes between Serbs and law enforcers in late September. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama also urged KFOR to take control in northern Kosovo to avoid violent incidents.
"I expressed serious concern about the dramatic deterioration of the already difficult situation of the Serbian community in Kosovo and Metohija and reiterated that Serbia supports the engagement of KFOR in the strict, complete and impartial implementation of the mandate based on UN Security Council Resolution 1244. We expect KFOR to maintain a neutral position and to be proactive to prevent any violation of the state of security on the ground," Vucic wrote on social media, as he welcomed the US admiral in Belgrade.
25 September 2023, 16:15 GMT
State Secretary of the Serbian Defense Ministry Nemanja Starovic said earlier that his country's armed forces would continue cooperation with NATO's peacekeepers after a new KFOR commander, Turkish Maj. Gen. Ozkan Ulutas, took office on Tuesday.
NATO has stepped up its presence in self-proclaimed Kosovo, with 500 Turkish servicepeople arriving there in June after the escalation of the already tense relations between Kosovo Serbs and Kosovo Albanians at the end of May, which resulted in clashes that left dozens of people injured.
Last Friday, the first group of 200 soldiers sent by the United Kingdom to reinforce KFOR arrived in Kosovo, joining the country's 400-strong contingent.
Serbia has still not recognized the self-proclaimed independence of Kosovo, its former province which it continues to refer to as its Kosovo and Metohija region. A large ethnic Serb community is still residing in Kosovo's north, often bearing the brunt of diplomatic tensions between Belgrade and Pristina, and protesting what they consider discriminatory Kosovar policies.
