Barricades to be removed after Kosovo forms Community of Serb Municipalities: Serbian president

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Wednesday said that the barricades in northern Kosovo will be removed when Pristina forms the Community of Serb Municipalities (CSM).

“First you form the Community of Serb Municipalities, then we will remove the barricades,” Vucic said, adding that Kosovo Serbs just want to survive and stay where they belong.

“You can keep trying to humiliate us up to a point, and then, when we have nowhere to go, like a cornered rat, we will fight with all four legs,” said Vucic during his visit to Azerbaijan’s capital Baku.

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic in her address at a session of the National Convention on the European Union (EU) urged NGOs to speak out about the situation in Kosovo.

“We are really on the brink of an armed conflict, thanks to Pristina’s unilateral actions,” Brnabic said.

Vucic requested last week that up to 1,000 police and military personnel return to Kosovo in line with UN Security Council Resolution 1244.

UN Security Council Resolution 1244 stipulates that Serbia has the right to deploy up to 1,000 members of its security forces in Kosovo.

The latest developments came after Serbs in northern Kosovo blocked main roads to protest the detention of former Serb police officer Dejan Pantic on suspicion of terrorism. Pantic was part of a mass resignation of Serbs from security forces in November.

- Tensions between Serbia and Kosovo

Kosovo, predominantly inhabited by Albanians, broke away from Serbia in 1999 and declared its independence in 2008. But Serbia has not recognized the move and sees its former province as part of its territory.

Tensions flared last month when Kosovo attempted to require ethnic Serbs to change their vehicle license plates that date before 1999 to Pristina-issued plates. The decision led ethnic Serbs in Kosovo to withdraw from all central and local institutions.

A snap election was announced in four northern municipalities for Dec. 18 after ethnic Serb representatives resigned from their posts.

But Kosovo has postponed the elections until April because of security concerns.

Last week, some election centers were damaged and shooting was heard in those areas, raising fears of an escalation in tensions.