Dacic: Security situation stable but burdened by internal and external challenges

BELGRADE - Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said on Wednesday the National Security Council had concluded the security situation in Serbia was stable but burdened by global geopolitical challenges and internal factors.

Speaking to the press after a session of the Council, Dacic said the government would be stronger than those challenges and pursue a prudent policy while calling for respect for law and public peace and order in the country.

He said several issues had been reviewed at the session, above all, geopolitical challenges facing Serbia and the security situation in Serbia and the region.

"When it comes to geopolitical challenges, the situation in the world is increasingly unstable and burdened by conflicts and increasingly heading in any direction. That implies that we must all prepare for any developments. That also means ensuring sufficient reserves and capacities for Serbia to survive in that situation in terms of the functioning of life," Dacic said.

It also means that Serbia must pursue a successful foreign policy to protect itself from the fallout from major geopolitical conflicts, he said.

"When it comes to regional factors, we discussed the situation in Kosovo-Metohija, which is burdened by a constant extremist policy of the Pristina leadership that is not aimed at seeking peaceful solutions but at further acquisitions of arms, at conducting violent actions and at incidents that are, above all, ethnically motivated and aimed at expelling the Serbs and getting them to move out of Kosovo-Metohija," Dacic said.

He added that some of Serbia's security problems were due to internal reasons.

The people have the political right to stage peaceful protests or rallies as defined by law but the majority of current protests are unregistered and illegal, he explained.

"Out of a desire not to complicate the situation, the police are not reacting," Dacic said.

"Criminal and misdemeanour complaints will be filed against all who commit criminal offences and misdemeanours. That has nothing to do with politics, but with violence," he noted.