Serbian army was not involved in arrest of Pristina's police officers - MoD

BELGRADE - The Serbian Ministry of Defence said on Thursday the Serbian Armed Forces had in no way been involved in an arrest of three officers of the so-called Kosovo Police in central Serbia on Wednesday.

In a statement, the ministry said insinuations by Pristina's PM that the Serbian Armed Forces had been involved in a "kidnapping" of the three inside the territory of Kosovo-Metohija were just a continuation of a campaign of lies, manipulations and the Pristina authorities' unlawful violence against Serbs in the province.

"The Serbian Armed Forces are performing tasks on controlling the Ground Safety Zone and securing the administrative line with Kosovo-Metohija while fully complying with UNSCR 1244, the Military Technical Agreement and all other signed agreements. In carrying out the tasks, the Serbian Armed Forces are cooperating closely with other security forces of the Republic of Serbia and with Kfor, with which they maintain professional contact at all levels with a view to monitoring the situation on the ground and maintaining a safe and secure environment," the ministry said.

The ministry also said that, under an agreement on interim operating procedures for cooperation and coordination along both sides of the administrative line, Serbian forces were authorised to deploy inside the Ground Safety Zone and that it had been agreed that the parties to the agreement would "prevent illegal crossings of the administrative line."

The agreements in force do not recognise forces other than Kfor, the Serbian Armed Forces and the Serbian police, which means that presence of other armed persons or formations in the vicinity of the administrative line is impermissible, the ministry also said.