The news that Turkey delivered Kosovo "thousands of kamikaze combat drones" for the needs of the Kosovo Security Forces raised a lot of dust in Serbia and apparently angered the President of Serbia terribly Aleksandar Vučić.
The matter was further aggravated by the fact that only a year ago, Vučić and the President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with a lot of mutual support in their statements, considered the possibility of Turkish drones ending up in Serbia.
Kurti in front of a military truck
The new Serbian security "nightmare" was initiated by the Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti who on Wednesday boasted on social networks that "Skydagger" drones ordered from Turkey had arrived in Pristina.
Kurti triumphantly illustrated the news with a photo in which, in the company of a soldier and a civilian, he is smiling contentedly posing in front of a military truck, and behind them is the sign of the international airport in Pristina named after Adem Jašari.
How the Ottomans impaled Vučić
To further raise tensions, Kurti emphasized that the drones were initially planned to arrive in Pristina in January 2026, but they were delivered three months earlier, in accordance with the contract with the Turkish company "Bajkar".
Right on time, a few days before the local ones of choice in Kosovo on October 12th.
Drones "Skydagger" carry explosives and can target moving and static targets, and depending on the model can carry explosive devices weighing from two to five kilograms.
Pristina previously acquired Turkish TB2 "Bayraktar" drones and American "Puma" drones.
Vučić's platitudes
The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, was very disturbed by this news, so he pointed out that he was "disgusted" by Turkey's behavior, "brutal violation" UN Charter and Resolution 1244 of the UN Security Council and the continuous arming of the authorities in Pristina.
He added that "now it is completely clear that Turkey does not want stability in the Western Balkans and that it dreams again of the restoration of the Ottoman Empire" and pointed out:
"Serbia is a small country, but we understand their true intentions," Vučić wrote on Instagram.
Potez Turkey he additionally surprised Vučić because, until recently, he boasted at the top of his voice about his extremely close relationship with Erdogan.
The "golden age" is over.
Last year, during Erdogan's visit to Serbia, the two, with many words of mutual praise, negotiated the delivery of Turkish military drones to Serbia.
Then Vučić praised Turkey as "the biggest player in the Balkans" and "an important political and economic power on the Eurasian and world level."
Erdoğan did not spare compliments either, and he assessed that the relationship with Serbia has entered a "golden age" and that economic relations govern the dynamics of cooperation between the two countries.
Vučić called Erdogan a "good friend", and after the meeting last year he said that he had heard "many ideas" from him on how to permanently preserve peace in the Balkans.
"With Vučić, we exchanged opinions and expectations regarding regional cooperation and also underlined the importance of peace and stability in the Balkans. It is very important to have common sense in the approach to solving the problems related to the tensions in Kosovo," Erdogan said in October 2024 during his visit to Serbia.
Then the two also talked about drones and military cooperation between the two countries, and Vučić emphasized that there are "many ideas about how the military industries of Serbia and Turkey could cooperate."
He added that a team has already been formed that will consider what the Serbian Army needs from Turkey and what the two countries could jointly develop in the future.
"The Turkish military industry is significantly stronger than ours. But, without false modesty, we are not to be neglected either. I see room for great cooperation within those frameworks," said Vučić at the time.
He pointed out then that Serbia has full confidence in Erdogan and his attitude towards peace and stability.
Erdogan then said that Turkish drones could be "one of the bases of cooperation in the field of dedicated industry" between Serbia and Turkey.
Petković on "Kurti the arsonist"
The director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija reacted to the delivery of Turkish drones to Pristina Petar Petkovic, but he only repeated what Vucic had already said: that by arming Pristina, Turkey directly violated Resolution 1244 of the UN Security Council, according to which KFOR is the only armed force in Kosovo.
He concluded that the "militarization of Prishtina" and the placing of deadly weapons "in the hands of arsonist Aljbin Kurti" is directed against the peaceful Serbian people.
He pointed out that it was no coincidence that the drones were delivered three months ahead of schedule, "just a few days before the local elections", so that Kurti, who is the prime minister in a technical mandate, "would be provided with the necessary support before the elections on October 12, so that he would have the opportunity to continue terrorizing the Serbian people".
General Mojsilović made an "urgent" telephone conversation
The Army of Serbia reacted to the news about the delivery of drones to Pristina by saying that the Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces, Milan Mojsilović, "had an urgent telephone conversation" with KFOR Commander Ozkan Ulutaš, who, to make matters even more complicated, is a high-ranking officer of the Turkish army.
In a conversation with Ulutaša, Mojsilović expressed "a sharp protest against the continuation of the arming of the so-called Kosovo Security Forces and the brutal violation of Resolution 1244 of the United Nations Security Council and the Military Technical Agreement."
The Serbian general pointed out that such moves represent a very bad signal and threaten not only the security of Kosovo and Metohija, but also the entire region of the Western Balkans.
He reiterated that Serbia, in accordance with international law, the UN Resolution and all other signed agreements, sees KFOR as the only legitimate armed formation on the territory of Kosovo and Metohija.
He requested that international forces consistently and impartially implement their mandate and provide a safe environment, as well as freedom of movement for everyone, and above all for the Serbian community in Kosovo.
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