Serbian defense minister confirms army rapid advance to administrative border with Kosovo

Serbia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Milos Vucevic has confirmed that Serbia’s armed forces have been ordered to rapidly advance to the administrative border with Kosovo and Metohija.

"Serbian President and Supreme Commander-in-Chief of our armed forces Aleksandar Vucic has signed a decree raising the combat readiness of the Serbian armed forces to the highest level and ordered them to move rapidly toward the administrative line with Kosovo and Metohija," he wrote on his Twitter account.

The minister told journalists earlier on Friday that "everything President [of Serbia Aleksandar] Vucic has been warning about for days and weeks, i.e. that Pristina continues escalation and terrorizes Serbs, primarily in Kosovo and Metohija," is happening in real life. He stressed that the actions by Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti "lead to red lines, to a total collapse of dialogue.".

 The Serbian president’s move comes amid rising tensions in four Serb-populated municipalities in the northern part of Kosovo and Metohija, where Kosovar law enforcement officers are trying to seize administrative buildings despite local residents’ attempts to defend them. Media outlets have reported of sirens going off, disruptions in mobile communications and law enforcement’s use of stun grenades and tear gas.