Serbia places troops on Kosovo border on highest combat alert
- Serbia’s order comes amid strained ties with neighbouring Kosovo over shootings and blockades
- Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Belgrade refuses to recognise it
Serbia placed its security troops on the border with Kosovo on “the full state of combat readiness”, ignoring Nato’s calls for calming down of tensions between the two wartime Balkan foes.
Serbia’s Interior Minister Bratislav Gasic said he “ordered the full combat readiness” of police and other security units and that they be placed under the command of the army chief of staff according to “their operational plan”.
He said in a statement on Monday that he acted on the orders of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic so that “all measures be taken to protect the Serbian people in Kosovo”.
It was not immediately clear what this order meant on the ground as Serbian troops have been on alert for a while on the border with Kosovo.
Officials claim alleged harassment of Kosovo Serbs by ethnic Albanians who are a majority in the breakaway province that declared its independence in 2008.
Earlier Monday, Nato-led peacekeepers said they were investigating a shooting incident in a tense northern region of Kosovo, urging calm as Serbia’s top military officials inspected their troops on the border in a show of combat readiness.