Minister of Defense: Serbian Army's combat readiness has been raised to the highest level

President of Serbia and Commander-in-Chief of the Serbian Army Aleksandar Vucic has ordered the Serbian Army to raise its combat readiness to the highest level, Defense Minister Milos Vucevic said last night.

"The president of Serbia as the commander-in-chief tonight ordered the Serbian Army to raise its combat readiness to the highest level, that is, its preparedness up to the level of the use of armed forces, i.e. of the armed potential of the Serbian Army," Vucevic said.

According to him, this "raises us to the highest level up to action carried out by the Serbian Army, protecting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia and protecting all citizens of Serbia and preventing terrorism and terror against Serbs wherever they live."

Vucevic said that there is no reason to panic, but there are reasons for concern.

"Serbia is the only one interested in talking, reaching political arrangements, meeting until a solution is found, while the other side (Pristina) is constantly making unilateral moves, increasing tension and leading to escalation with, in my opinion, a clear goal of completely ethnically cleansing Kosovo and Metohija. To expel even the few Serbs that are left on our centuries-old territory, and the mild reaction of the international community, i.e. the avoidance of conversation and political dialogue about the causes, not the consequences, which has led to this kind of political struggle, is worrying to us," said the minister.

He added that no one even mentions the ZSO (Community of Serb Municipalities) anymore and that the Serbs arrested in Kosovo and Metohija have not been released, but are literally kept in containers without the right to defend themselves, without the rights in line with the European Convention on Human Rights and Freedoms.

"No one mentions that any longer, not even non-governmental organizations of Serbia. There is no mention of the issue of ID cards or license plates, now there are some new conditions," Milos Vucevic said.

Earlier on Monday, Aleksandar Vucic addressed the public in a video after Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Porfirije was banned from entering Kosovo and Metohija by the provisional Pristina institutions. He stated that Serbia will strive to preserve peace and stability, and that he will meet with the patriarch at noon today because of the newly created situation.

(Telegraf.rs)