The Serbian government reacted strongly Tuesday to recent comments by a U.S. administration official concerning independence for Kosovo. Nicholas Burns, undersecretary of state for political affairs, said earlier that if the UN Security Council does not adopt a new resolution on Kosovo granting the province independence, the U.S. would unilaterally support a declaration by Kosovo's Albanian authorities on separation from Serbia.
"We are not going to bargain and cede Kosovo in exchange for Serbia's accession to the European Union. Serbia will never acknowledge the existence of an Albanian state on its territory," Vuk Drascovic said adding that the proposed division of Kosovo's territory between Serbia and Albania "is absolutely impossible."
Serbia is strongly opposed to independence for the province, which is dominated by ethnic Albanians, but the United States and the European Union have expressed support for its sovereignty. However, only four out of 15 member-states at the UN Security Council voted for UN envoy for Kosovo Martti Ahtisaari's plan, advocating an internationally supervised sovereignty for the province, during the first round of consultations April 3.
Veto-wielding Russia has also opposed the internationally backed plan, insisting that a decision on Kosovo should satisfy both Kosovar and Serbian authorities and that it must be reached through negotiations.
As an alternative to the Ahtisaari's plan, Moscow proposed sending a UN mission to Kosovo and Belgrade before continuing talks on Kosovo's status. The UN Security Council backed Russia's initiative April 13, and the UN mission arrived in Belgrade late Wednesday.
Draskovic also said that Serbia values Russia's stance and assistance on the Kosovo issue highly.
"We are very happy with Russia's stance, as it supports the main provisions of the UN Charter, which is more than enough for us," the minister said.
Kosovo, which has a population of two million, has been a UN protectorate since NATO's 78-day bombing campaign against the former Yugoslavia ended a war between Serb forces and Albanian separatists in 1999.
