Top security officials: South is stable

Defense and police chiefs Dragan Šutanovac and Dragan Jočić visited the ground security zone in the south of Serbia.

Izvor: B92

Tuesday, 10.07.2007.

14:08

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Top security officials: South is stable

In a news conference held in the Pačeno Brdo army base, Šutanovac said they saw proof of the ability on the part of the Serbian military and police in the region to prevent any disturbances or terrorism.

Šutanovac was particularly pleased that today’s visit was the first conducted jointly by the ministers of defense and the interior, adding that it demonstrated there were no differences in the way the two ministries viewed the security issues of the area.

Šutanovac is a member of President Boris Tadić’s Democratic Party (DS), while Jočić comes from the ranks of Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica’s Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS).

The ministers also agreed both army and police officers were underpaid, considering the hardship they faced daily while serving in the ground security zone.

Gendarmerie Commander General Borivoje Tešić said during the visit that local politicians from Preševo and Bujanovac were pressuring the security forces to leave the area.

“The aim of this pressure is to allow criminal groups to operate freely,” Tešić said.

The commander of Serbia’s elite police unit said that Albanian organized crime groups operated in two zones, parallel to those that belonged to the so-called Preševo, Bujanovac and Medveđa Liberation Army (UCPBM), an Albanian paramilitary formation disbanded after the region nearly descended to all-out war in 2000-2001.

“Leaders of these organized criminal groups enjoy the instability in this region, since it allows them operational freedom, sources of financing and gaining of political influence. Hence the constant pressure on the security forces from some Preševo and Bujanovac authorities, and leaders of some parties here, to have the zone demilitarized,” Tešić said.

Jočić pledged that the government would solve the poor living conditions in the bases housing Serbia’s prime police unit by putting nine army bases in the area at the disposal of the Gendarmerie.

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