Serbia opens its biggest military base in region bordering Kosovo

Nov 23, 2009, 13:36 GMT

Belgrade - Serbian President Boris Tadic on Monday opened the country's biggest military base in a region bordering Kosovo, calling the facility a key stabilizing factor in that part of the country, according to media reports.

The Jug (South) base in southern area of Bujanovac, where the majority of the population is ethnic Albanian, will employe some 1,000 soldiers.

Local Albanian leaders called the opening of the base a 'militarization' and 'occupation' of southern Serbia.

'Every citizen of Serbia who wants peace and stability in the region and good international relations should be satisfied with the opening of the base,' Tadic told reporters.

'All those who do not want peace and those involved in organized crime should not be satisfied.'

Tadic said the base, which spans 35 hectares, would be used as a training centre for soldiers involved in peacekeeping operations while contributing to peace in southern Serbia.

The region was the stronghold of so-called Liberation Army of Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac - an ethnic Albanian group that fought against Serbia's security forces in the area in late 2000 and early 2001. They wanted independence for Kosovo.

Peace was brokered with the help of NATO and the European Union. Since the insurgency, Serbia keeps a strong military presence in that area. Kosovo declared independence in February 2008.