Vucic: Only those who know nothing think we wanted to take control of north Kosovo

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Monday evening only those who knew nothing thought Serbia had planned to take control of the north of Kosovo-Metohija in a move synchronised with the recent clashes in Banjska.

In an appearance on a Happy TV talk show, Vucic said Washington's demand for a withdrawal of Serbian Armed Forces troops from the administrative line between central Serbia and Kosovo-Metohija had been due to the fact the army had deployed sophisticated arms at the line for the first time.

"I understood what it was about - the number of personnel was not so high, it was slightly higher but not worrying, we had 8,400 soldiers at most. A year ago we had 14,000 and they said nothing at the time. Under an agreement from 2001, we have free, unrestricted access to the Ground Safety Zone regardless of the arms and equipment," Vucic said.

"We did not deploy what we usually do - a few tanks and vehicles - but some sophisticated arms, and Serbia has become seriously stronger, that is what I think was the reason," he said.

He noted that Belgrade had had no plans to take control of the north of Kosovo-Metohija.

"Why would we do that? Let me reveal something to you: our plans - and you must always have plans for everything for situations when you are under attack and plans where and how to respond... You would be surprised - the north of Kosovo is not where our first response would be," Vucic told the show's host.

"Simply, some people think they know something, but they know nothing and they explain to us there were greater plans with 30 people," he added.