Serbian Defense Minister: Kosovo "closely monitored"

Speaking in the town of Jagodina, he added that there was "no possibility of military threat".

"Our cooperation with KFOR is very good. We cooperate well, we exchange information and there is nothing to indicate a possible escalation of conflict or some serious problems," Sutanovic told Tanjug.

"We are naturally concerned with the situation in every part of Kosovo which is inhabited by Serbs, but also with (the situation in) other parts," Sutanovac said.

He said that Kosovo should be a place in which human rights will be respected in a democratic way, in which disputes will not be settled by throwing stones at one another, but in a decent and appropriate manner.

Sutanovac also pointed to the "very alarming fact that a few weeks ago hidden weapons were found in Kosovo, which could represent a threat to security".

His comments came after Sunday's clashes between Serbs and ethnic Albanians in Kosovska Mitrovica, which broke out as Serbs there took part in local elections.

Serbian State and Local Self-Administration Minister Milan Markovic says he's not surprised by the reaction of Kosovo Albanians to the local elections in the north.

He told B92 on Monday that the international community needs to change its approach for solving Kosovo's status question, because the current way of solving issues has been shown to be unsuccessful.

Markovic said that he was not surprised by the reaction of the Albanians that protested against the elections in the province's northern municipalities of Kosovska Mitrovica and Novo Brdo, because, he said, violence had been occurring in Kosovo sporadically for the last ten years.

He said that Serbia was offering talks and awaiting the ICJ opinion on the Kosovo Albanian unilateral declaration, "because the current situation is no good", adding that it is characterized by conflicts, crime, corruption, violation of human rights and many wounds from the past.

The minister stressed that the Sunday elections in Kosovo were not a provocation, because Serbs have the right to organize in order to establish local self-administration, which was only possible through local elections.

"Serbs in Kosovo receive democratically elected local governments with the elections and are able to organize elementary matters, starting with communal activities, basic schooling and health care, which are all in the jurisdiction of the self-administration," Markovic said.