Minister of defense and chief of staff address public: These pictures refute false accusations against Serbia

Minister of Defense Milos Vucevic and Chief of the General Staff General Milan Mojsilovic addressed the public on Monday.

"Our state leadership, years ago, and especially with Kurti's arrival at the head of the administration in Pristina, warned the public about pressure, harassment and the physical persecution of the Serb people in Kosovo and Metohija. The cooperation with KFOR was based on mutual respect and was taking place in a fair manner. It is important that KFOR has as significant a role as possible, especially in the areas where the Serb population lives. Our political differences are one things, and cooperation on the ground between the Serbian Army and KFOR is another. The Serbian Army believes that it is useful to ensure a greater presence of KFOR units and that this would at least to an extent improve the security of our people in Kosovo and Metohija," he said and added:

"So far, it has never happened that the Serbian Army tramples on acts and violates cooperation with KFOR. This is information of importance for the security of our people. There is a continuous campaign against the Serbian Army, its numbers and activities in the territory of our country, which we consider inappropriate and reject as untrue. The Republic of Serbia will do everything in its power to prevent such a development from happening," he noted.

That is why, Vucevic added, it is important that we respect the political dialogue.

Chief of the General Staff General Milan Mojsilovic referred to the "high level of concern" regarding the numbers of Serbian soldiers at the administrative line.

"In accordance with the orders of the commander-in-chief, combat readiness of the Serbian Army was not raised to the highest level. Any comments about the numbers are completely unnecessary. As of today, there are 4,500 engaged personnel in the ground (safety) zone who have the ability to influence security," he pointed out.

General Mojsilovic also touched on the accusations of training terrorists and said that the Army does not tolerate any lies, including that they were planning on invading Kosovo and Metohija.

"It seems outside of operational logic that 30 people and 4,500 contract members have that strength. I've worn the uniform for 37 years, and if you ask me, 14,000 soldiers are too few for such a complex task."

Weapons produced in Serbia and used by the Kosovo police were also shown. "Maybe we trained them as well," Vucevic wondered ironically.

"The same weapons can be found everywhere in the territory of the former SFRJ, and this is no proof that the Serbian Army is participating in any terrorist acts. Terrorism is the violence and terror that Serbs suffer in Kosovo and Metohija, (it's) not allowing EULEX to participate in actions for which they are authorized," said Vucevic.

(Telegraf.rs)