UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari's proposal to grant independence to Albanian-dominated Kosovo, regardless of Serbian objections, and a draft resolution based on the document have been removed from UN Security Council after pressure from veto-wielding Russia, Serbia's long-standing ally.
"Until now, the EU has not made an ultimatum to Serbia's leadership that we will be unable to join the EU together with Kosovo. These are two absolutely different issues - the talks on territory's status and Serbia's admission to the EU," Boris Tadic said on Russia's Vesti-24 TV channel.
Tadic said the Kosovo problem could not be resolved if independent Kosovo and Serbia both join the EU. He said Kosovo could become an EU member quicker as part of Serbia.
"Serbia does not accept Kosovo's independence in any form. The president and government have their own constitutional powers, and even if we wanted to accept the territory's independence, we could not do so," he said.
Tadic said Kosovo's independence would be a dangerous precedent threatening the stability not only of the Balkans, but other states as well.
The Serbian prime minister said Wednesday that the plan by Martti Ahtisaari, which would have ceded 15% of the Balkan state's territory, had failed.
Speaking following an extraordinary parliamentary session, which voted overwhelmingly to adopt a new resolution on Kosovo as an integral part of Serbia, Vojislav Kostunica said the document established a foundation for further talks on the future of the breakaway province.
Formally a part of Serbia, and its historical heart, Kosovo has been a UN protectorate since 1999, when NATO air strikes ousted Serbian troops over the alleged ethnic cleansing of Albanian separatists.
