By Xinhua
Belgrade : The Serbian parliament overwhelmingly adopted a resolution Wednesday evening that obliges Serbian officials to reject Kosovo’s independence and denounces NATO for supporting the separatist Kosovo Albanians.
The resolution, passed with 220 votes in favor and 14 against in the 250-seat parliament, says Serbia must “reconsider” diplomatic ties with Western countries that recognize Kosovo’s statehood.
It says that because of NATO’s support for Kosovo’s independence, Serbia must remain outside the Western military alliance.
The resolution also rejects the idea of setting up a European Union (EU) mission in Kosovo until the breakaway province’s status is resolved.
The EU agreed this month to send a 1,800-member mission to Kosovo to replace a UN mission in the province, where ethnic Albanians, who account for about 90 percent of Kosovo’s 2 million people, have said they would proclaim independence before next May.
The United States and major EU nations have said they would recognize Kosovo’s independence because it has not been under Serbia’s control since 1999, when NATO bombing forced the withdrawal of Serbian forces fighting against Kosovo Albanian separatists.
Serbia insists that Kosovo — considered the cradle of Serbia’s medieval state and religion — remain part of its territory, and has urged more negotiations with Kosovo Albanians.
During a fiery debate in parliament, Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said Serbia would not join the EU if the 27-nation bloc recognized Kosovo’s independence.
Serbia’s pro-Western President Boris Tadic said Serbia would never accept the independence of Kosovo, but it should not give up”its European future” along the way.
The resolution also says the possible signing of a pre-membership trade and aid deal with the EU in January “must be in the function of preserving the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Early on Wednesday, a spokesman for the UN mission in Kosovo said the Serbian parliament’s resolution on Kosovo would have no impact on Kosovo at all.
“What the Serbian Assembly is doing is Serbian deputies’ business. Regarding Kosovo, that won’t have implications because Kosovo is a UN-governed territory,” Alexander Ivanko told reporters in the provincial capital Pristina.