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TEHRAN, September 30 - Tension flared in a familiar section of the Balkans as thousands of people marched Saturday in Kosovo's capital against a possible territory swap with former war foe Serbia, while the Serbian government put its troops on alert after special police were deployed to Kosovo's Serb-dominated north.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - Serbia reacted after Kosovo's special police moved into an area around the Kosovo side of the strategic Gazivode Lake, Marko Djuric, director of Serbia's Office for Kosovo and Metohija, said.
Kosovar President Hashim Thaci visited the area near Serbia's border Saturday, a move that temporarily redirected attention away from the large opposition protest in Pristina.
A security unit was dispatched to the area for the president's stop, Kosovo police said.
Serbia's Djuric said special troops must not be deployed unannounced to northern Kosovo, where the country's ethnic Serbian minority population is concentrated. Serbian media said Belgrade has complained to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
President Aleksandar Vucic, an ally of Russia in the Balkans, warned at a press conference later on Saturday that Serbia will not allow any violence against the Serb minority in Kosovo.
Asked if he would seek Russia's help as Syrian President Bashar Assad, Vucic responded he would seek advice but not military help from President Vladimir Putin during an upcoming visit to Moscow.
"I would not like to see great global conflicts take part on our territory," said Vucic.
Serbia does not recognize Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence, but their governments have been in European Union-mediated negotiations for seven years. The two sides have been told they must normalize relations as a precondition to EU membership.
Source: AP
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