Serbian lawmakers urge autonomy for ethnic Serbs in Kosovo

PanARMENIAN.Net - Serbian lawmakers urged autonomy for ethnic Serbs in Kosovo on Sunday, Jan 13, after Prime Minister Ivica Dacic conceded Serbia's sovereignty over its former province was all but lost, Reuters reported.

Kosovo declared independence five years ago, in the wake of a 1998-99 war that pitted its ethnic Albanian majority against Belgrade. Serbia says it will never recognize the secession and continues to partly control a northern, Serb-populated pocket of the new country.

After more than 12 hours of debate, parliament adopted a resolution calling for broad autonomy for ethnic Serbs within the legal framework of Kosovo - implicit recognition of the authority of the Kosovo government over its entire territory.

One analyst called the resolution a "milestone", but hardline Serbian nationalists accused the government of betrayal at the behest of the European Union, which has said membership talks for Serbia depend on improved relations with Kosovo.

"Belgrade never before accepted Pristina's jurisdiction over Serb-held northern Kosovo," said Marko Prelec of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group think-tank.

The resolution reiterates that Serbia will never recognize the country of 1.7 million people as independent, but Dacic warned on Saturday that Belgrade could no longer afford "to keep its head in the sand".

"Serbian sovereignty over Kosovo is practically non-existent," he told lawmakers, saying Serbs in Kosovo needed institutions of government that would be recognized by all sides, including Kosovo Albanians.