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Serbia plans retaliation to Kosovo independence

Serbia plans to adopt a set of retaliatory measures against Western states if they recognize Kosovo's independence, including the possibility of severing diplomatic ties with the US and EU countries, officials said on Tuesday.

Belgrade also said it rejects the idea of an EU mission in Kosovo until the breakaway province's status is resolved.

The parliament was set to debate a strongly worded resolution yesterday proposed by the government that would bind Serbian officials never to accept Kosovo's independence.

Ethnic Albanians in Kosovo have pledged to proclaim independence early next year, and the US and several EU states have indicated they would recognize it. Serbia, backed by Russia, insists that Kosovo, a province of 2 million people that is 90 percent ethnic Albanian, should remain part of its territory.

The EU agreed earlier this month to send an 1,800-member mission to Kosovo to replace the current system in the province, which has been run by the UN and NATO since the 1999 war between Serbs and separatist ethnic Albanians.

But the Serbian government resolution, which will almost certainly be adopted by the nationalist-dominated parliament, said that the EU mission would not be welcome before Kosovo's final status is determined at the UN Security Council, where Russia could veto any decision not favorable to Belgrade.

"The sending of the proposed EU mission ... would be an act which jeopardizes the sovereignty, territorial integrity and the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia," according to a copy of the draft resolution.

Russia has opposed the new EU mission without Belgrade consent.

The document says that Serbia must "reconsider" diplomatic ties with Western countries that recognize Kosovo's statehood. It adds that because of NATO's alleged support for Kosovo's independence, Serbia must remain outside the Western military alliance.

Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said that the proposed resolution "represents the continuation of the government's policies toward Kosovo."

But Liberal Party leader Cedomir Jovanovic -- a rare Serbian official who does not oppose Kosovo's independence -- said that the proposed resolution "represents the end of Serbia's pro-European policies."

"We will not support the resolution because it epitomizes the return to the anti-Western isolationist policies of [former Serbian leader] Slobodan Milosevic," Jovanovic said, adding that a similar resolution was adopted by the assembly in 1999.
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