Serbia against the arrival of EU mission to Kosovo

"We have also sent a clear message that the issue of a new mission can be resolved only after the U.N. Security Council has reached a compromise solution for the province's future status," Samardzic said.

According to him, Serbia expects the EU to take into account the Belgrade government's principled position that "an EU mission is not welcome on our territory".

"It would be very bad if the EU ignored Serbia's stand and made an unlawful decision on sending an EU mission to implement the dismissed Ahtisaari plan, because such a decision would cause serious problems in the relations between Serbia and the EU," Samardzic said.

Meanwhile, Kosovo Serb representatives and the bishop of Raska and Prizren Artemije handed to Serbian Parliament Speaker Oliver Dulic a declaration with some 71,000 signatures, expressing the desire of the
Serbs and other non-Albanians for Kosovo to remain part of Serbia.

The Democratic Party of Serbia representative from Kosovo Marko Jaksic said after meeting Dulic that the declaration was an expression of the will of the Serbs and other non-Albanians from the province for
Kosovo to remain part of Serbia, but was also a demand to the state bodies to fight for Kosovo together and to the end.

"We told Dulic and the others that we will not accept any formulas, such as territory in exchange for development and accession to the EU. That would mean that if Serbia started integrating with the countries that recognize Kosovo's independence, it would become a partner in the seizing of 15 percent of its own territory," Jaksic said.

Bishop Artemije thanked Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica for his struggle in the international arena, adding that there would be no Serbia without Kosovo.

Some 120,000 Serbs live in Kosovo at the moment, while over 200,000 of them have been expelled after 1999 and the arrival of international forces.

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