MOSCOW, February 21 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s foreign minister called on Thursday for talks on the status of Kosovo, whose parliament declared independence on February 17, to be resumed.
Tensions have escalated in Belgrade, with thousands of Serbs gathering in the capital to protest against Kosovo’s independence. Groups of activists broke into United States and Croatian embassies in protest against the countries’ support for Kosovo’s secession.
Sergei Lavrov told reporters in Moscow: “Talks on Kosovo’s status should be restarted,” and warned that the unilateral declaration could have consequences which “could harm Russia’s relations with the EU and the United States.”
He said the Kosovo issue has prevented the international community from dealing with other outstanding problems.
A senior Russian MP said on Thursday that Kosovo would be unable to become a real state.
“Kosovo has no chance of acquiring full-fledged statehood,” said Konstantin Kosachyov, head of the International Affairs Committee at the State Duma.
Belgrade has recalled its ambassador from Italy, which earlier today had recognized Kosovo’s independence. Serbia earlier recalled its ambassador to Washington.
As well as the protests in Belgrade, violence broke out on the Kosovan border on Thursday, with hundreds of Serbs getting into fights with Czech soldiers deployed by the International KFOR mission.
In Banja Luka, the Serbian part of Bosnia, around a thousand people took to the streets. The demonstrators shouted slogans against the Albanian population of Kosovo and burned European Union, German and United States flags.
Serbia said on Wednesday it would utilize all possible political and diplomatic means to maintain the country’s territorial integrity in the wake of Kosovo’s declaration of independence. “Serbia’s internationally recognized borders have been unilaterally violated,” Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic told a news conference.
The U.S., Australia, and several leading European countries, including France, Italy and Germany have so far recognized Kosovo, while Russia, China and Spain have condemned the independence move.
Jeremic said his country would block Kosovo’s admission to the UN, the Council of Europe and the OSCE and take political and economic action against states acknowledging its independence. He also indicated that Serbia’s relations with countries recognizing Kosovo’s independence could be jeopardized.
The U.K. appointed its first ambassador to the self-proclaimed republic earlier on Wednesday a day after Serbs destroyed border posts between Serbia and the “world’s newest state.”
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