Kosovo Serbs say they don't recognise army
1,183 views · Published 19 December 2018 · 3:04 · Indexed 6 October 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(14 Dec 2018) Politicians in Serb-dominated northern Kosovo on Friday condemned the formation of a Kosovar army, saying it was an attack on peace. The approval of the draft law earlier on Friday would expand an existing 4,000 Kosovo Security Force and turn it into a regular lightly armed army. Ethnic-Serb community lawmakers boycotted the vote. In Serb-dominated northern Kosovo, Serb leader Goran Rakic said the new army was an attack on peace and in violation of UN resolution 1244. Another leader, Igor Simic, said if the army was ever to enter northern Kosovo, ethnic Serbs would "stand bare-handed in front of those armed forces and once defend the right to life." Serbia fears the move's main purpose is to chase the Serb minority out Kosovo's Serbian-dominated north, a claim strongly denied by Pristina. In light of the passage of the law, Serbia talked up the possibility of an armed intervention in Kosovo. Any Serbian armed intervention in Kosovo would mean a direct confrontation with thousands of NATO-led peacekeepers, including U.S. soldiers, stationed in Kosovo since 1999. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/5637ffe5b46e3033fc0d9f4f33c4f19f
