SLOVENIA, March 10 (RIA Novosti) - The European Union speaks for the presence of UN peacekeepers between Serbia and Kosovo, which unilaterally declared its independence last month, Slovenia's foreign minister said on Monday.

"It is extremely important that the UN mission [of peacekeepers] should be deployed on the border between Serbia and Kosovo," Dimitrij Rupel said.

The foreign minister of Slovenia, which holds the EU rotating chair, said that on the whole the situation in Kosovo remains unstable.

The majority Albanian province declared its independence from Serbia on February 17, despite opposition from Belgrade. Since then, 18 of the 27 EU states have recognized the Republic of Kosovo.

Russia, China, Spain, Cyprus and several other countries have refused to recognize the province's independence.

Prior to the declaration of independence by Kosovo, the European Union approved sending a 2,000-strong civilian mission to Kosovo to replace the UN mission, which has been deployed there since the NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999 ended a conflict between Serbs and ethnic Albanians. Kosovo has been a UN protectorate since the end of this conflict.

Belgrade has recalled its ambassadors from a number of countries recognizing Kosovo's independence. Russia has pledged to block any move by Kosovo to join the United Nations.