KFOR declared: patrol with Serbian forces was common

KFOR has been declared around yesterday's case of Serbian soldiers passing through the village of Karacheva in Kamenica.

In a media communiqué, KFOR says that such joint patrols with the Serbian Armed Forces are routine and that yesterday's case is in the framework, adding that Serbian soldiers are never left alone, Klan Kosova reports.

“Since 2008, synchronized patrols are held together by KFOR and the Serbian Armed Forces along the Administrative Border Line to provide security and to ensure there are no accidents. In this direction, KFOR also conducts joint patrols with Kosovo Security Organisations in the vicinity of the Administrative Border Line”, KFOR says.

“KFOR co-operates with the Kosovo Security Organisations throughout Kosovo, and with the Serbian Armed Forces at the Border Administrative Line between Kosovo and Serbia. The Administrative Border Line extends some 350 kilometers [350 km] and is not clearly marked or defined by elements of natural and identifiable terrain, such as rivers or mountain ranges, but is marked only on maps”.

KFOR says that while carrying out their activities, synchronized patrols should adapt their routes to land restrictions.

This means that synchronized patrols of KFOR and Serbian Armed Forces move along the Administrative Border Line with a degree of adaptation imposed by the ground. At any moment, however, the elements of the Serbian Armed Forces of a synchronized patrol are not separated from KFOR members, and this was the case again”.

“KFOR will continue to engage with all sides to strengthen co-operation with both the Kosovo Security Organisations and the Serbian Armed Forces in line with its mandate to ensure a safe and secure environment and freedom of movement for all communities in Kosovo, according to the 1999 UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and the military Technical Agreement of the same year”.