"Serbia, whose southern province is considered, under the [Serbian] constitution, an inalienable part of the country, is ready to do its best to prevent 15% of its territory being detached by force," Vojislav Kostunica told the country's parliament, which must form a new government by the end of the day.
Kostunica said that accession to the European Union would be another goal for Serbia's new democratic government, which, he added, should not be "a compensation for any concessions in the issue of Serbia's territorial integrity."
The Serbian government will also take every possible measure to successfully cooperate with the International Tribunal for former Yugoslavia, Kostunica said. He said the coalition parties had agreed to establish a national security council to coordinate the country's activities.
Serbian news agency TANUG said the main parties in Serbia's parliament agreed earlier Tuesday to appoint Kostunica as head of a new government to be approved and sworn in by midnight Tuesday.
If the parliament elected on January 21 fails to swear in the new government by the midnight deadline, the president will dissolve it and call an early election.
