In an interview with the Pink TV channel on January 8, the President of Serbia

, Aleksandar Vucic

, stated that in his reply, KFOR stated that there is no need for the return of Serbian forces, the Balkan service of Radio Svaboda writes.

"KFOR replied to us that there is no need to return our forces to northern Kosovo and Metohija, as we expected, although in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1244, they do not have the right to reject our request."

The President of Serbia also said that it remains an open question whether official Belgrade will turn to the UN and ask for a special meeting of the Security Council.

He assumes that if this were done, Serbia would be supported by Russia, but the result would still be the confirmation of KFOR's decision.

Vucic noted that official Belgrade will monitor the situation, in cases where, as he stated, KFOR does not protect Serbs in Kosovo.

As an example, he cited the wounding of an 11-year-old and a 21-year-old Serb on January 6 in the Serb-majority municipality of Strpce in Kosovo.

Kosovo authorities then condemned the incident and said they had arrested a member of Kosovo's security forces the same day.

Officials of Serbia, as well as representatives of Western international institutions, condemned the incident.

Vucic repeated that he will meet with State Department

adviser Derek Scholl

in Belgrade this week .

He also said that the USA sincerely supports the independence of Kosovo, but the Americans, he said, can be talked to.

"They are trying to understand our position, the position of the Serbs in Kosovo.

I am not saying that he (US Ambassador to Serbia

Christopher Hill

) is the one who will change his position, but he hears and listens to what we say, unlike many.

The same is the case with Scholet, the US special envoy to the Western Balkans ,

Gabriel Escobar

," said Vucic.

Serbian authorities have sent a request for the return of their security forces to Kosovo in response to what they say is an increased presence of Kosovo police in the north of the partially recognized state.

The request was sent back in the days when tensions increased in the north of Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008 and which the official Belgrade refuses to recognize.

For twenty days in a row in December 2022, in four northern municipalities where the majority of the Serbian population lives, barricades were placed on the roads leading to the border points of Kosovo and Serbia.

The Serbian far-right also came to the border, demanding the elimination of border points and the full return of Kosovo to Serbia.

They were pushed back by the police.

The barricades were erected as a sign of protest against the arrest of a former Kosovo police officer from the Serbian minority, who, according to the Kosovo authorities, is suspected of organizing an attack on the offices of the Central Election Commission in the north of the country.

At the end of 2022, the Serbs agreed to dismantle the barricades.

This happened after

Dejan Pantich's

detention was changed to house arrest.

Earlier, Serbs left the institutions of Kosovo, including the police.