Serbia warns of a set of retaliatory measures

PanARMENIAN.Net - Serbia plans to adopt a set of retaliatory measures against Western states if they recognize Kosovo's independence, including the possibility of severing diplomatic ties with the United States and EU countries, officials said. Belgrade also said it rejects the idea of an EU mission in Kosovo until the breakaway province's status is resolved.



On Wednesday, the parliament will debate a strongly-worded resolution proposed by the government that will bind Serbian officials never to accept Kosovo's independence.



Ethnic Albanians in Kosovo have pledged to proclaim independence early next year, and the U.S. and several EU states have indicated they would recognize it. Serbia, backed by Russia, insists that Kosovo, a province of 2 million people that is 90 percent ethnic Albanian, should remain part of its territory.



The European Union agreed earlier this month to send a 1,800-member mission to Kosovo to replace the current system in the province, which has been run by the U.N. and NATO since the 1999 war between Serbs and separatist ethnic Albanians.



But the Serbian government resolution, which will almost certainly be adopted by the nationalist-dominated parliament, said that the EU mission would not be welcome before Kosovo's final status is determined at the UN Security Council, where Russia could veto any decision not favorable to Belgrade.



"The sending of the proposed EU mission ... would be an act which jeopardizes the sovereignty, territorial integrity and the constitution of the Republic of Serbia," the resolution says. The document says that Serbia must "reconsider" diplomatic ties with Western countries that recognize Kosovo's statehood. It adds that because of NATO's alleged support for Kosovo's independence, Serbia must remain outside the Western military alliance.



The resolution, apparently drafted by Serbia's conservative Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, also said that the planned signing of a pre-membership trade and aid deal with the EU in January "must be in the function of preserving the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity." "Deployment of peacekeepers in Kosovo will result in formation of a puppet state on the Serbian land," he said.



Kostunica's ruling party has earlier demanded that the signing of the so-called Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU be conditioned with the bloc agreeing that Kosovo is Serbia's integral part, the AP reports.