The NATO Kosovo Force (KFOR) has informed that in the next few days it will carry out the maneuvers it had planned near the Novi Selo base with a view to preparing its troops for a possible crisis.
«This exercise is intended to train KFOR units to ensure freedom of movement in a crisis situation. It will consist of a series of tactical simulations and logistical activities using military convoys with heavy engineering vehicles and helicopters,» KFOR explained in a statement reported by Serbian media.
KFOR stressed that these are already scheduled maneuvers, thus dissociating it from the current tense situation, when the Serb minority in northern Kosovo has been barricaded for nine days to cut the main roads in protest against the breach of the pacts reached with the Kosovar authorities and the arrest of Serb officials.
«KFOR is fully focused on the day-to-day implementation of its duties under Security Council Resolution 1244 of 1999 to ensure a safe and secure environment and freedom of movement for the good of all communities living in Kosovo,» the NATO force has reiterated.
Just this Sunday, it was reported that KFOR has blocked the administrative crossing in the northern Kosovo town of Jarinje with the installation of a barbed wire fence and several crossed all-terrain vehicles. That crossing was under Police control, as was the Brnjak crossing.
An event under the slogan «Never a border» organized by Serbian, Montenegrin and Republika Srpska nationalists was planned for this Sunday, so there is a huge police deployment.
The Kosovo Serbs are demanding the release of former policemen Srdan Trajkovic and Dejan Pantic and an individual identified as Milan Adzic, as well as the withdrawal of the Kosovo Special Police from northern Kosovo.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
