Serbian forces placed on highest combat readiness as Kosovo threatens final solution
Rick Rozoff, AntiBellum, Dec 26 2022
Combat readiness of MUP and Serbian Army raised; Kurti will attack North KiM?
B92, Dec 26 2022President of Serbia and Supreme Commander of Serbian Armed Forces, Aleksandar Vućić, ordered Serbian Armed Forces to be at the highest level of combat readiness. Defense Minister Miloš Vucevic announced this tonight. Vučević told Tanjug: “The president of Serbia, as commander-in-chief, ordered tonight that the Serbian Armed Forces be at the highest level of combat readiness, preparedness up to the level of the use of armed force, the armed potential of the Serbian Armed Forces. It raises us to the highest level of action carried out by the Serbian Army, protecting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia and protecting all citizens of Serbia and preventing terrorism and terror against Serbs wherever they live.” According to the order of the President of the Republic and Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces, Aleksandar Vučić, the combat readiness of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Serbia has been raised, announced Bratislav Gašić, the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Serbia. Gasic said: “According to the order of the President of the Republic and the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Armed Forces of Serbia, I have ordered the full combat readiness of all units of the Ministry of the Interior: Gendarmerie, Special Anti-Terrorist Unit and police brigade. They should immediately be placed under the command of the Chief of General Staff and occupy the positions provided for in the operational plan.” The authorities in Pristina put the so-called Kosovo security forces in full combat readiness and are ready to launch an attack on the north of Kosovo, Novosti has learned unofficially. More than 1,500 members of special units are ready for the “attack.” This refers to units from Pristina, Peja and Prizren. According to unofficial information from Novosti, it is expected that both the President of the Republic and the Commander-in-Chief of the Serbian Armed Forces, Aleksandar Vučić, will respond to the immediate war danger that threatens our people in Kosovo in Metohija, and that our armed forces could be raised to the highest level of readiness.
Vučić will respond to the immediate danger of war in Kosovo and Metohija
Novosti, Dec 26 2022According to unofficial information from Novosti, it is expected that the President of the Republic and the Commander-in-Chief of the Serbian Armed Forces, Aleksandar Vučić, will respond to the immediate war danger that threatens our people in Kosovo in Metohija, and that our armed forces could be raised to the highest level of readiness. Defense Minister Miloš Vučević told Tanjug tonight: “We are doing our best to preserve peace and stability. Unfortunately, they didn’t want to listen to us, or they weren’t very interested in hearing us. Today, the Serbian patriarch Mr Porfirio is also banned from entering Kosovo and Metohija. This has never happened in history. And they don’t care. (They make) meaningless announcements, unimportant … But they continue to talk only about Serbian barricades, which are only a sign of the dissatisfaction and struggle of the Serbian people to be their own and nothing more. Accordingly, I want to inform you that we are in a difficult situation, but that we will do our best and that we will take care in every way how to preserve peace and stability and not only that, how to protect our people in the north of Kosovo and Metohija. Accordingly, after arming the Albanians and raising their combat readiness …”
Vucevic visits army troops in Raska garrison
Tanjug, Dec 26 2022Serbian Deputy PM and Defence Minister Milos Vucevic and Serbian Armed Forces Chief of General Staff Gen Milan Mojsilovic visited a part of army troops in the Raska garrison, in southwestern Serbia, on Monday. During the visit, Vucevic saw that army personnel are prepared and trained to execute any task issued to it by the state leadership. The minister spoke with SAF personnel executing tasks along the administrative line. The visit was preceded by a meeting with SAF officers at which the current security situation was discussed, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.
Do Albanians want a new Storm? Kurti has the support of Great Britain and Germany, wishes for a Croatian scenario
Vesti, Dec 26 2022Former KOS member Ljuban Karan said, regarding the latest events in Kosovo, that Kosovo Prime Minister Aljbin Kurti has employed all his mechanisms and that he wants to repeat the same scenario as the Croats, reports Pink. Karan said: “Kurti is now preparing the final phase, and obviously has the support of the Quint states. There is no doubt that Great Britain and Germany, even the USA, support him. He wouldn’t have behaved like this if he didn’t have his back and support from the outside.” Former intelligence agent Božidar Spasić said that he saw concern in the president, but that he was not afraid. Spasić said: “There was a lot of intelligence coming in today. We had information that heavy machinery was being collected all day today and yesterday, whose task is to remove the barricades. This is about the occupying authorities feeling that they are losing the ground under their feet, and we can see that Kurti’s position as a kind of leader is wavering, and that even from The Hague they are telling him that he is losing territory with these moves. Now you can see how important it is that the president raised our army, and that we paid a lot of attention to training and equipment.” As he says, at this moment all the power that Serbia has is directed towards the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, and adds that the president said that Serbia will find a way to protect its people.
Dacic: Pristina’s decision to deny entry to patriarch disgraceful
Tanjug News Agency, Dec 26 2022Serbian First Deputy PM and FM Ivica Dacic said on Monday a decision by the Pristina authorities to ban the movement of Patriarch Porfirije of the Serbian Orthodox Church was impermissible and demonstrated their brutality and lunacy. “Can anyone expect a religious leader like the patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church to be banned from visiting any part of the world outside of Serbia or within Serbia in the 21st century?” Dacic asked in a statement to Tanjug, noting that nothing like that had ever occurred to anyone. It is disgraceful if the patriarch has to send a request to come to the territory of a part of Serbia that is under interim UN administration in order to visit the former seat of the Serbian Orthodox Church, he said. “That has happened only in the difficult circumstances of the Turkish occupation, when the patriarch was banished from Kosovo-Metohija,” Dacic said. Such actions by Pristina are impermissible, he underscored.
Turkey provides drones to Albania for new Balkan war
Rick Rozoff, AntiBellum, Dec 26 2022
Albania Orders Three Bayraktar TB2 Combat Drones From Turkey
Defense Post, Dec 26 2022The Albanian government has inked a deal with Turkish defense firm Baykar to acquire three unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Under the agreement, Baykar will deliver TB2 armed drones to the Balkan nation, bolstering the modernization efforts of the country’s armed forces in 2023. The procurement makes Albania the second NATO country to purchase Turkish-made UAVs after Poland bought 24 Bayraktar TB3 drones in May last year. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said: “The initial three drones will be armed and ready for combat and for use in any possible case that I hope will never be the case. The Turkish Bayraktar has emerged as one of the most well-known drones in the world, equipped with the highest state-of-the-art technology to deliver on military, police and civil missions. They will be armed and ready for combat …” The Turkish drone recently earned recognition following its critical role in conflicts, particularly in the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war. In the first few weeks of Russia’s invasion, Ukrainian TB2s destroyed Moscow’s artillery systems and armored vehicles. Baykar’s Chief Technology Officer Selçuk Bayraktar told Reuters in May: “Bayraktar TB2 is doing what it was supposed to do: taking out some of the most advanced anti-aircraft systems and advanced artillery systems and armored vehicles.” With Albania’s purchase, the Istanbul-based firm has now exported its drones to 27 countries including Qatar, Azerbaijan, Morocco, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan.
Turkish Drone Hits Target Using New Guidance Kit in Test Launch
Defense Post, Dec 26 2022Turkish defense firms Baykar and Tubitak Sage have completed the test firing of a new indigenous precision guidance kit, Gokce, aboard the Bayraktar Akinci drone. The guidance kit-equipped 1k-lb MK-83 bomb engaged with a target from the combat drone at an altitude of 20k ft. These include Ankara-based defense contractor Roketsan’s MAM-C/L/T munitions and Teber-82 guidance kit, Tubitak Sage’s KGK-SIHA-82 wing-assisted guidance kit, and arms manufacturer Aselsan’s Tolun miniature bombs. Just days prior, Baykar completed a test fire of Turkey’s first air-to-ground supersonic missile developed by Roketsan. The missile was also fired from an Akinci drone. The new generation Gokce is Tubitak Sage’s precision guidance kit compatible with combat drones and F-16 aircraft. Gokce is equipped with global positioning and inertial navigation systems that enable the guidance kit to turn MK-83 general-purpose bombs and SARB-83 penetrator bombs into smart munitions.
Turkey: arrogant, impertinent Greece disregards basic principles and values of NATO
Rick Rozoff, AntiBellum, Dec 26 2022
Türkiye urges NATO to ‘stop’ Greece’s ‘impertinence’
Daily Sabah, Dec 25 2022Amid Türkiye’s well-intentioned approaches to make the Aegean and Mediterranean a sea of friendship, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar on Saturday called on NATO to urge Greece to stop its impertinence. Akar said at the Defense Ministry’s year-end evaluation meeting: “Greece continues to provoke and escalate tensions and its unlawful attitude. Greece has harassed Turkish jets taking part in NATO exercises twice in the last week. This hostile attitude clearly shows that Greece has become so arrogant that it disregards the basic principles and values of NATO. It’s time for NATO to say ‘stop’ to this impertinence.” Underlining that Greece should take a lesson from history, Akar also pointed to the events of Sep 9 1922, in Izmir, a city on Türkiye’s western coast that was liberated from Greek occupation in the Turkish War of Independence. Türkiye, a vital NATO member for over 70 years, has complained … On Sweden and Finland’s NATO accession bids, Akar reiterated Türkiye’s expectation from the two Nordic countries “to fulfill the commitments they signed in Madrid, in which is to cut their support to terrorists and to remove the restrictions they have imposed against Türkiye on the extradition list. It’s that simple. We support NATO’s open-door policy. We are not against Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership. They say: there’s a war between Ukraine and Russia, we expect NATO to be strong. Türkiye is one of the most important members of NATO. Meeting Türkiye’s security needs actually and logically means Türkiye being strong. Don’t forget a strong Türkiye is a strong NATO.”
Kosovo to local Serbs, Serbia: “Welcome to hell for anyone who wants to die prematurely”
Rick Rozoff, AntBellum, Dec 26 2022
Kosovo police prevented Patriarch Porfirije from entering Kosovo and Metohija
B92, Dec 26 2022Kosovo police at the administrative crossing of Merdare did not allow the car with Serbian Patriarch Porfirije to enter territory of Kosovo today around 2:30 pm. The patriarch stayed in the car for a few minutes on the side controlled by the Kosovo police, then turned around and went back to Kuršumlija. How scandalous this decision of the authorities in Pristina is, is also shown by the information that the Kosovo government, in an email yesterday informing the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church that he was not granted entry into Kosovo and Metohija, demanded that he distance himself from the Serbs at the barricades, as a condition for his stay in Kosovo.
Vučić received an ultimatum? “Welcome to Hell”
B92, Dec 26 2022Serbs in the north of Kosovo and Metohija are at the barricades for the 17th day. Serbs demand the release of their illegally arrested compatriots, the withdrawal of special units of the Kosovo Police from the north of the province and the withdrawal of secret lists for the arrest of Serbs. The morning after last night’s shooting in Zubin Potok is peaceful. KFOR confirmed that last night there was a shooting in Zubin Potok, adding that no one was injured in that incident, and no material damage was caused. In the statement of the KFOR mission, it is stated that shots were fired near one of their patrols, Koha reported, stressing that there were no injuries or material damage. With this statement, KFOR denied the allegations of the Pristina media that a unit of that military mission was attacked. The president of Serb List, Goran Rakić, denied last night’s report by the Pristina media that the KFOR unit was attacked in Zubin Potok. Rakić said: “This is new disinformation in a series put out by Pristina, with the aim of drawing KFOR into their dirty games and conflict with the Serbian people.” After the meeting of President Aleksandar Vučić and Prime Minister Ana Brnabić with the military leadership, the Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces, General Milan Mojsilović, headed to Raška. Mojsilović pointed out: “The tasks that the Serbian Armed Forces and I, as Chief of the General Staff, received are precise and clear, and will be fully implemented. The situation is complex and requires the presence of the Serbian Armed Forces along the administrative line.”
As reported by the media, the ambassadors of Quint countries last night sent an ultimatum to the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, with the request that the Serbs remove the barricades in the north of Kosovo within 24 hours. The ambassadors of the USA, Great Britain, Germany, Italy and France allegedly demand that the barricades be removed within 24 hours or, they say, they will allow Kurti to do what he has in mind and go after the Serbs with police force. Last night, a picture of members of the ROSU special units appeared on the Facebook social network with a threatening message that they are ready to intervene whenever necessary. The post said: “Welcome to hell for anyone who wants to die prematurely. We are ready to intervene whenever necessary to protect the interests of our country.” Yesterday, Pristina banned Serbian Patriarch Porfirije to go to the Patriarchate of Pec before Christmas. The statement of the Serbian Orthodox Church is transmitted to you in its entirety: “His Holiness the Serbian Patriarch Mr Porfirije was astonished to receive the news that the authorities in Pristina today forbade him to travel to the Peć Patriarchate, which is the first and centuries-old seat of the Serbian Orthodox Church and a monastery, before the great feast of the Nativity of Christ, which is celebrated by the entire Christian world to whom the Patriarch is the abbot, that is, the elder. Patriarch Pofririje does not give up his intention to serve divine service in the Patriarchate of Pec and expects that this extremely discriminatory decision will be repealed and that the trampling of the human rights and religious freedoms of Orthodox Serbs living in the Province, on the land of their ancestors, where the Serbian people lived continuously for at least fifteen hundred years. His Holiness Patriarch Mr Porfirije prays to God for peace and goodwill among all people, and especially prays for peace to prevail between Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija, where they have lived together for centuries.”
Mojsilovic: Situation in Kosovo-Metohija complex
Tanjug, Dec 26 2022Serbian Armed Forces Chief of General Staff Gen Milan Mojsilovic said late on Sunday the situation in Kosovo-Metohija was “complex” after bursts of gunfire were heard in Zubin Potok. Before heading to the Raska region, southwestern Serbia, Mojsilovic told Pink TV: “Not long ago, I finished a meeting with the commander-in-chief. The topic was Kosovo-Metohija and the current situation. The situation is complex and requires army presence along the administrative line and, in the period to come, the army will focus on executing the tasks. I cannot talk about what happened in Zubin Potok, I can only say that all of the army’s tasks will be executed in full.”
Over 500 US military personnel have sought Washington’s okay to work for foreign governments: case of Azerbaijan
Rick Rozoff, AntiBellum, Dec 26 2022
Two US generals sought to profit from connections with Baku but Air Force objected
Panarmenian.net, Dec 26 2022During the height of the war in Afghanistan, US military leaders flocked to Azerbaijan to embrace its president, Ilham Aliyev, despite a report from the US Embassy comparing the mustachioed strongman to mafia bosses in “The Godfather.” Setting aside concerns about Azerbaijan’s culture of corruption, Pentagon officials persuaded Aliyev to open his country’s borders and airspace to critical US and NATO supply routes to Afghanistan. In exchange, US officials promised a closer diplomatic partnership with Aliyev and steered $369 million in defense contracts to Silk Way Airlines, an Azerbaijan cargo carrier that US investigators say was controlled by the government. Two USAF generals who oversaw the supply routes from 2008 to 2014, Duncan McNabb and William Fraser III, later tried to cash in on their Azerbaijan connections. Upon retiring from active duty, the four-star generals negotiated valuable consulting deals with Silk Way Airlines, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post under the Freedom of Information Act. One of them stood to earn $5k/day. The Pentagon and State Dept normally rubber-stamp requests from retired US military personnel to work for foreign powers or companies controlled by foreign governments, having approved more than 95% of applications since 2015. But when the USAF learned about McNabb’s and Fraser’s business ventures in Azerbaijan, officials flagged them as a potential embarrassment and a risk to national security, the documents show. The case triggered a prolonged internal battle between the retired generals and R Philip Deavel, a civilian USAF lawyer who feared that the consulting deals might trigger a scandal. Other USAF officials repeatedly sought to prevent the dispute from becoming public.
Between 2016 and 2021, The Post submitted four separate FOIA requests that should have produced records about the case, but the USAF either did not reply or said it could not find any documents. This year, the USAF finally released more than 400 pages of records, but only after The Post sued in federal court and presented written proof from another agency that the generals’ conduct in Azerbaijan had generated an investigation. The files provide an unusually detailed look at how two high-ranking US military commanders tried to profit from foreign relationships forged during wartime. Deavel, who as the director of the USAF Review Boards Agency was responsible for reviewing such arrangements, raised ethical concerns because the US military had given extensive business to Silk Way Airlines while McNabb and Fraser managed the supply routes through Azerbaijan. In a 2015 confidential memo, Deavel warned his superiors “We should do nothing that would cause Congress or the media to question whether the hundreds of millions of dollars flowing to Silkway are solely for valid national security needs.” The lawyer added that it might look like McNabb and Fraser knew “that a perk of office is a lucrative advisory contract from Silkway upon retirement.” Fraser and McNabb are among more than 500 retired US military personnel who have sought federal permission over the past eight years to accept jobs as consultants or contractors for foreign governments, according to a Post investigation. Most of the jobs originate in countries known for human rights abuses and political repression.
Niqnaq 