"Kosovo army would be contrary to UN resolution"

Source: Beta

BELGRADE -- Serbian Government Office for Kosovo Director Marko Djuric has said that Belgrade opposes the establishment of Kosovo's armed forces.

(Tanjug, file)

In addition, he pointed out that this would be contrary to "international documents."
"The creation of a Kosovo army is not mentioned in Brussels agreement, on the contrary, the agreement clearly stipulated that no type of armed forces can enter the north of Kosovo without the consent of the Serb community, and that is one of the postulates of the document," Djuric told the Russian website Sputnik.

According to him, UN Security Council Resolution 1244 on Kosovo provides for "only two armed forces" in Kosovo - KFOR and the Serbian Army, the latter "with the approval of the commander of KFOR."

"We do not believe that it would be a good signal to build and form any kind of armed formations in a conflict zone. People who have had tanks in their streets for 15 years do not want to see any kind of army in the streets any longer," Djuric said.

According to him, the political leadership in Kosovo should deal with solving social and economic problems, not with "forming an army."

"In this regard, no one should fool themselves that this idea will meet with a positive response of the Serb community in Kosovo, on which, however, it very much depends how this issue will be decided in parliament," said Djuric.