Unfavourable security situation in southern Serbia

The session was held at the Press Centre of the Co-ordinating Body of the municipality of Bujanovac. Apart from the members of the Committee, the session was attended by the chairman of the Committee on Interethnic Relations, Meho Omerovic, Army Chief of Staff, General Vladimir Lazarevic, commanding officer of the Pristina Corps, Major General Mladen Cirkovic, commanding officer of the Gendarmerie, General Goran Radosavljevic, vice-chairman of the Co-ordinating Body for Southern Serbia, Lieutenant General Ninoslav Krstic, members of the Co-ordinating Body, president of the Municipal Assembly of Bujanovac, Nagip Arifi, as well as the Chief of Vranje Police, Ljubisav Aleksic.

The session discussed the current security situation in southern Serbia.

General Krstic outlined the present state in the security zones on the territory of Bujanovac and Presevo, while member of the Co-ordinating Body for Southern Serbia Mica Markovic acquainted the participants with the tasks of the Co-ordinating Body, stressing that the Body’s priority was revitalising the economy and stopping the migration of Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija. He underlined that the multi-ethnic police project had yielded extremely good results and that it had been positively assessed by the European Union. Chief of Vranje Police Ljubisav Aleksic presented the Report on the Security Situation and Results of Vranje Police for 2002.

Members of the Committee expressed their concern with the deterioration of the security situation in southern Serbia, stressing the importance of the session, and adding that such sessions would also be of crucial importance in the future.