Serbian Armed Forces Shoot Down Drone Over Military Unit Near Kosovo
Serbian military and armored vehicles near the road between the village of Raska and the Yarine checkpoint on the administrative line between central Serbia and northern Kosovo
BELGRADE (Sputnik) – The Serbian armed forces on Wednesday shot down a drone over a military unit in the town of Raska near the administrative line with the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo after bilateral relations deteriorated due to Pristina’s demand for Kosovar licensing of Belgrade-issued car plates, the Serbian Defense Ministry said.Earlier in the day, Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic and Defense Minister Milos Vucevic said that unmanned aerial vehicles of unknown origin had monitored the positions of the Serbian army near the administrative line with Kosovo and Metohija. Belgrade pledged to shoot down the drones if the incidents were repeated.”This afternoon, after timely detection and tracking, units of the Serbian army neutralized a commercial drone that was moving from Kopaonik to Raska. The drone was shot down with the use of electronic warfare measures near the military facilities of the Raska garrison,” a statement read.At midnight on Tuesday, Pristina’s decision on the mandatory re-registration of cars with Serbian plates came into force at checkpoints separating Kosovo from Serbia. Kosovo’s “customs officers” started issuing written warnings to drivers of cars with license plate numbers issued by the Serbian authorities.Later that day, Serbia’s armed forces were put on high alert by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to enable a quick response to any development in the situation on the border with Kosovo, the country’s defense minister said. However, he added that “nobody wants to wage a war and start a conflict.”On August 27, Belgrade and Pristina reached an EU-brokered compromise deal on entry and exit regulations. Serbia agreed to abolish entry-exit documents for Kosovo ID holders, while Kosovo agreed not to introduce them for Serbian citizens. Belgrade maintains this move is only aimed at streamlining border crossing and does not mean that Serbia recognizes Kosovo’s independence.Meanwhile, the Kosovar authorities require that local Serbs re-register their car plates, demanding that they feature the EU-standard letter code of RKS (Republic of Kosovo) instead of KM, the Serbian identifier for the disputed region of Kosovska Mitrovica on the border. The deadline for re-registration was October 31.In mid-September, Vucic said that the risk of a violent conflict in Kosovo had increased due to Pristina’s controversial policy and unilateral steps.
