Serbia's Military-Security Agency (VBA) has seized a large quantity of weapons in the southern parts of the country.
According to the daily Blic, the weapons were being transported illegally to Macedonia.
It is assumed that the weapons were intended for "the party infrastructure of the biggest Albanian parties" whose officials took part in armed conflicts in Macedonia, and in Kosovo and Metohija, the newspaper is reporting, citing "VBA sources."
According to the same sources, several thousand rifles, machine guns, mortars and hand grenades were confiscated last week near the towns of Presevo and Bujanovac, as one foreign national and two Serbian citizens of Albanian ethnicity were attempting to transfer them to Macedonia illegally.
"This is a large cargo of arms that was obviously meant to be used if the conflict in Macedonia flares up, or perhaps precisely in order to cause incidents," the daily's source said, and added that these infantry weapons "should have served even for a possible seizing of power."
He added that the operation took place as part of the activities undertaken by the VBA and other security services - who have increased their activities to the highest level, on the orders of Serbia's state leadership.
"The operation was carried out in utmost secrecy but the VBA chief and top state leaders have been informed about it - and they decided not to go public with the information," writes the daily, citing its unnamed source.
"Prime Minister Vucic thought that speculation about the seizure of such a large quantity of arm could be used by some to add fuel to the fire of the already unstable political circumstances in Macedonia," the source said, and added that relevant Macedonian services had been informed as well.
"At the same time, the VBA noticed increased movements of members of the Albanian national minority from the Presevo and Bujanovac area toward Macedonia in the past days. The situation is similar when it comes to Albanians from Kosovo, above all those who are known as former fighters of the KLA," the source said.
