Serbia warned on Saturday that the country's territorial integrity is threatened by a U.S. announcement that it is ready to recognize Kosovo even without a UN deal, news reaching here from Belgrade said.
U.S. officials have threatened to recognize the independence of the southern Serbian breakaway province of Kosovo if the extended talks between the Serbs and ethnic Albanians do not produce any solutions by the end of the year.
"Our country is faced with a direct threat from the U.S. that it will in an illegal way recognize the unilateral independence of Kosovo," Serbia's Prime Minister Voijslav Kostunica said in a statement.
He said the United States is openly threatening the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia by using the policy of force, calling the UN Security Council to take necessary measures to protect Serbia from the U.S. policy of force.
But Kosovo ethnic Albanians, who account for 90 percent of the province's 2 million population, are satisfied with the U.S. stand over the Kosovo issue.
"We know that President George Bush also clearly stated Kosovo talks cannot carry on indefinitely, so we see this as a way to end the process of determining Kosovo's status," one of Kosovo Prime Mister Agim Ceku's spokesmen said.
Back in Belgrade, President Boris Tadic's Democratic Party (DS) was severely critical of the remarks by the U.S. officials over the Kosovo issue.
"Such statements encourage extremism and take the meaning out of efforts of the negotiations," a party spokeswoman said Saturday.
A new round of talks between Serbian and Kosovo ethnic Albanian officials has just ended under the auspices of the Contact Group troika, composed of envoys from the European Union, the United States and Russia.
The two sides have agreed to meet face-to-face at the end of this month to determine the fate of the province which is run by the United Nations since June 1999 after NATO troops drove out Serbian forces fighting ethnic Albanian rebels.
Serbia has stated repeatedly that Kosovo is an integral part of its territory and vowed to keep it within its border, while Kosovo has said it will declare independence if no agreement is reached by Dec. 10 when the talks are set to end.
Source: Xinhua
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