He met with Stoltenberg: We Respect KFOR Role in Kosovo

After today's meeting, Secretary - General NATO, Jens Stoltenberg and Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq, have held a press conference.

In his speech, Vuciq has also spoken of Serbia's stance regarding the KFOR and NATO mission in general, saying they want to avoid any possibility of escalation of conflict.

Serbia is a militarily neutral country, will remain militarily neutral and will by no means make the decision in that sense of the bloc”, Vuciq has said.

On the other hand, he has said Serbia will continue to strengthen co-operation and relations with KFOR.

“We have our history, which is not easy, is not simple, but we want to strengthen further co-operation and relations with KFOR and NATO and we want to avoid any possible escalation of the” conflict, Vuciq has said.

The Serbian president has once again thanked NATO Secretary General, who has wanted to hear Serbia's stance.

“We talked about what was happening, not always should we look at everything with the same eye, but what's important to us is the role of KFOR, which we respect, and chief of the General Staff, who at my command has contacted KFOR's commander at the north-of-the-clock tensions event around 9:00 and we think this has obviously affected the calming of tensions and the ease of the crisis in northern Kosovo<1>, Vuciq has declared.

Vuciq has said Serbia is always able to find understanding in Stoltenberg's desire and all NATO's KFOR to ensure peace and stability.

Secretary - General NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, has said it belongs to Belgrade and Pristina to avoid escalating the situation.

He has made those statements after the meeting he held with Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq, in Brussels.

Stoltenberg said the situation on the field has improved, though the mission NATO in Kosovo, KFOR, is monitoring the situation and is willing to intervene in the event of destabilising the situation.

Asked what the warning for NATO intervention means, Stoltenberg has said KFOR is in close contact with authorities in Belgrade and Pristina.

If there's a need, we'll move forces and increase our presence. We've already increased our presence north. We will act when needed, and proportionally”.

Stoltenberg has said that the fact that KFOR is NATO's largest military mission outside the alliance speaks of its commitment to preventing tensions.