Serbian Defence Minister Milos Vucevic said on Wednesday that President Aleksandar Vucic had issued an order to raise combat readiness after the sighting of drones entering the territory from Kosovo.

“Having experience of the Ukrainian front, the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, as commander-in-chief, issued an order that every such facility be eliminated. Our fighters, MiG-29s, did not patrol because of drones, they carried out regular patrolling and control of our skies,” he said.

“The army can respond to these challenges with cannons,” said Vucevic.

He claimed the drones came from two directions from Kosovo, along the line of the Terrestrial Security Zone, with “occasional entries into the territory of central Serbia and attempts to observe the positions of units of the Serbian Armed Forces and certain facilities”.

The Minister said the “incorrect” headlines in the Kosovo media were that the Serbian army is “concentrating on the administrative line” with Kosovo, but that it is actually about exercises taking place throughout Serbia under the name “Maneuver 22”.

“I cannot say security risks do not exist, primarily because of the irresponsible behavior of the administration in Pristina, but Serbia does not want any wars,” said Vucevic.

Kosovo’s Minister of Defence, Armend Mehaj, however, denied Serbia’s accusations and called them an attempt at destabilization.

“Such a discourse is only a pretext for increasing the [Serbian] military presence alongside the border with Kosovo as a tool to spread panic among citizens of both countries,” Mehaj said on Tuesday.

According to Mehaj, Serbia is trying to instill fear among the Serbiasn community in Kosovo in a time when Kosovo government has implemented a decision to replace Serbia-issued licence plates with Kosovo ones, a move that Serbia strongly objects to.

“We want to ensure all citizens of the Republic of Kosovo, as they have been informed previously by the Ministry of Internal Affairs that this process [on license plates] aims at legality in our country, increasing safety and is not directed at any other community,” Mehaj said.

“Respect for these measures will be taken care of by Kosovo Police, as traffic regulator, while the Kosovo army will undoubtedly guarantee the protection of all citizens within Kosovo’s territory. We will coordinate any action with our international allies, in protection of territorial integrity and European democratic values,” Mehaj said.