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Serbia insists that only members of the NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, KFOR, be deployed on the border, on the Kosovo side.
This was said after the meeting that the Serbian Minister of Defense, Milosh Vucevic, held on October 25 with his Turkish counterpart, Jashar Guler. Turkey took command of KFOR in October.
"We strongly encourage a direct communication between the Chief of General Staff of the Serbian Army and the KFOR commander and we insist that only KFOR members are present along the administrative line from the side of 'Kosovo and Metohija'. Joint patrols of members of the Serbian Army with those of KFOR along the administrative line should also continue ," said Vučevič.
Serbia, which does not recognize Kosovo, calls the border line with Kosovo an administrative line. Kosovo's border with Serbia is guarded by the Kosovo Border Police and KFOR members. Vucevic said that security in Kosovo "was the main topic of conversation" with his Turkish counterpart.
"We are encouraged by the guarantees we received from Mr. Guler regarding the safety of the Serbian community ," he added.
According to the announcement, Vučevič reiterated Belgrade's position that Serbs in Kosovo "have no problem with the presence of KFOR members and their presence reduces tensions and leads to escalation".
Relations between Kosovo and Serbia deteriorated further after the attack by an armed group of Serbs on the Kosovo Police in Banjska t Zvecani on September 24. The responsibility for the attack was taken by Millan Radoicic, the former vice-president of Lista Serbe, the main party of Serbs in Kosovo that has the support of Belgrade.
For Radojčič, Prishtina has also presented drone recordings where he is seen participating in the attack in Banjska, which Kosovo considers a terrorist attack. Serbia has said that it will not extradite him to Kosovo. Currently, he is being investigated both in Kosovo and in Serbia, but for different crimes. Turkey has intensive diplomatic relations with Kosovo and is one of the largest investors in both countries. Kosovo and Turkey also have military cooperation and Prishtina has bought weapons from Ankara for the Kosovo Security Forces (KSF).
This cooperation has been criticized by Serbia. During the meeting with the Turkish minister, Vučević also spoke about the arming of the KSF from Turkey.
"I am satisfied, not with the promises or guarantees, but with the messages we received from Guler regarding the arming of the KSF" , said Vučevič.
Meanwhile, Guler said that Turkey supports the peace, stability and participation of the Balkan states in international organizations, but also Serbia's membership in the European Union. He added that Turkey believes that dialogue is the only way to maintain peace and stability in the region.
"Our country, which has taken over the command of KFOR, will continue to give priority to stability, security and order", said Guler./REL
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