Serbs: 'we are defending Europe against Muslim aggression'

The spirit of Tsar Lazar, a medieval Serb leader who died fighting the Ottoman Turks in the 1389 Battle of Kosovo, is never far from the Serbian psyche. The defeat has metamorphosed in folklore into a manifestation of the Serbian nation with Kosovo as its cradle.

The Tsar Lazar Guard is a Serbian paramilitary group which has threatened to start "a new war for the liberation of Kosovo". At its inaugural parade recently in the Serb town of Krusevac, 200 men appeared on the streets dressed in combat clothing reminiscent of the Tigers, a private army run by the notoriously brutal militia leader Arkan in the 1990s. Many were wearing T-shirts emblazoned with insignia of the disbanded Serbian special police unit, the JSO, and most claimed to be former members of the police or the army.

Alexander, who would give only his first name, said: "All of our men are trained to use arms and protect themselves. Kosovo has always been part of Serbia and we are not prepared to see it become a part of a greater Albania. What the West must understand is that we are not just defending Serbia, we are defending Europe against Muslim aggression."

Source: Independent (English)