Drecun: Arms supplies to Pristina aimed at completing so-called statehood

BELGRADE - The head of the Serbian parliamentary committee on Kosovo-Metohija Milovan Drecun said on Friday the ultimate objective of arms supplies to Pristina was to create the conditions for NATO membership of the so-called Kosovo and complete its so-called statehood.

Commenting on a US State Department decision to approve a sale of Javelin anti-tank missile systems and other military equipment to Pristina in a deal estimated to be worth 75 mln dollars, Drecun told Tanjug the decision was a part of a role the US had long had when it comes to transforming the so-called Kosovo Security Force into "some kind of a Kosovo army."

"Provision of arms, equipment and military training - the US is the leader there alongside Turkey, which is also one of the main arms suppliers. Germany and the UK are also involved in that. That should come as no surprise to us at all. It is something the US has been doing continuously and what it will continue to do," Drecun said.

He added that, under an agreement, US intelligence services were able to supply intelligence information to Pristina.

"Everything that is related to our security forces and the sentiment of the Serbs is being sent to them," Drecun said, noting that, under another agreement with Washington, Pristina was allowed to purchase weapons directly from US arms manufacturers or obtain them through the US Department of Defence.

"That is what has been used in recent past," Drecun said, noting that the US had supplied the so-called Kosovo Security Force with hundreds of Humvees and seven light UAVs systems.

Commenting on a statement by a representative of the Kosovo Albanian Self-Determination party that the number of Javelins to be acquired from the US was about equal to the number of Serbian tanks, Drecun said it clearly showed "what is being done."

"Therefore, the US is arming the future 'Kosovo army' for conflict with our forces," he said.

Asked about a statement from Washington that the sale of 246 Javelin missiles will not change the fundamental military balance in the region, Drecun said:

"Of course it will change it, given that everyone in Kosovo says the 'Kosovo Security Force' is the successor to the terrorist 'Kosovo Liberation Army.' We know what the objective of the 'Kosovo Liberation Army' is - to create a Greater Albania, and that can put the region in jeopardy."