Turkey has been "unacceptably" and actively supplying the Republic of Kosovo with weapons, enhancing the risks for the Serbian population of the republic as well as for Serbia, State Secretary of the Serbian Defense Ministry Nemanja Starovic said on Tuesday
BELGRADE (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th July, 2023) Turkey has been "unacceptably" and actively supplying the Republic of Kosovo with weapons, enhancing the risks for the Serbian population of the republic as well as for Serbia, State Secretary of the Serbian Defense Ministry Nemanja Starovic said on Tuesday.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in June that Belgrade had refused to buy Bayraktar drones from Turkey after Ankara supplied the Kosovo Security Force (KSF) in Pristina with those drones.
"It's not only about Bayraktar drones, but also about serious and complex OMTAS anti-tank guided missiles, mine throwers and grenade projectors. It enhances the risks and the threat, first of all, for the Serbian population of Kosovo and Metohija, and for the entire Republic of Serbia," Starovic said in an interview with Radio Television of Serbia.
There is no reason for Serbian nationals to panic yet, but such supplies are a violation of international law, to which Serbia "has an adequate response," the official said.
"We are closely monitoring these processes. For months, our competent agencies have been informing the authorities in details of what is going on there, and in light of this, we have informed Turkey by diplomatic channels that what is happening in unacceptable," Starovic said.
Ankara claims that the drones are being bought for commercial use, although the supplied volumes far exceed the KSF's budget, the official added.
According to UN Security Council Resolution 1244, Kosovo has no national army. Pristina's government with NATO financial support is conducting modernization and training of the lightly-armed Kosovo Security Forces with the goal of transforming it into a robust military power, which has provoked Serbian condemnation.
Serbia has still not recognized the self-proclaimed independence of Kosovo, its former province which it continues to refer to as its Kosovo and Metohija region. A large ethnic Serb community still resides in Kosovo's north, often bearing the brunt of diplomatic tensions between Belgrade and Pristina and protesting what they consider discriminatory Kosovar policies.
