Serbia puts troops on high alert as tensions with Kosovo rise

Belgrade has put the army on a heightened state of alert due to tensions with neighbouring Kosovo multiple times in recent years

Serbian armed forces were on the highest level" of alert, defence Minister Milos Vucevic said, highlighting the Balkan country's increasingly strained relations with neighbouring Kosovo over recent shootings and blockades.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Belgrade has refused to recognise it and encouraged Kosovo's 120,000 ethnic Serbs to defy Pristina's authority - especially in the north where ethnic Serbs make up the majority.