http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3390760.eceSerbs vent anger at Kosovo independence declarationProtesters took to the streets in key Serb centres across the Balkans today to vent their anger at Kosovo's declaration of independence, as Moscow called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to oppose the move.
The day after scenes of wild celebrations by Kosovan Albanians on the streets of Pristina, the Kosovo capital, there was a very different mood in Banja Luka, the capital of the Bosnian Serb Republic, where a protest march turned violent as demonstrators threw stones and eggs at police stopping them breaking into the US Consulate.
In Belgrade, the Serbian capital, some 7,000 people gathered in Republic Square, the heart of the city, carrying Serbian flags and singing anti-Albanian slogans.
In Kosovo itself, 5,000 Serbs chanted “This is Serbia” and waved banners reading “Russia Help!” and posters of US flags with Nazi swastikas scribbled over them, as they demanded that the parts of Kosovo where Serbs live remain within Serbia.
The Serbian parliament is planning an emergency session to adopt a government decision to annul Kosovo's independence declaration on the ground that it “violates the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Serbia”.
The Serb government also declared “null and void” the EU decision, which received the green light on Friday night, to send a 2,000-strong force of policemen and lawyers to help Kosovo to establish the foundations for the rule of law in the new country.
Russia has supported Serbia's claim to Kosovo, while the United States has supported Kosovo's drive for independence.
“America is no longer the single world power,” Marko Jaksic, the hardline leader of Kosovo Serbs, told the noisy gathering. “The Russians are coming. As long as there is Russia and Serbia, there will never be an independent Kosovo.”
The crowds, singing nationalist songs, marched to a bridge spanning a river that divides Kosovska Mitrovica, with Serbs in the north and ethnic Albanians in the south of the drab mining town. They were confronted by Nato peacekeepers, but there were no violent incidents. “If the Albanians try to cross the bridge, we demand from the Serbian Army to use all available means to stop them,” Jaksic said.
Another 800 Serbs staged a noisy demonstration in the Serb-dominated enclave of Gracanica outside Pristina, waving Serbian flags and singing patriotic songs.
The European Union called for calm in the Balkans as foreign ministers began their meeting in Brussels to consider how to react to Kosovo's declaration of independence. Six member states oppose the move, although the EU has sent an 1,800-strong mission to aid the Kosovo Albanians in setting up their new republic.
Javier Solana, its foreign policy representative, told reporters: “I would like to make an appeal to everybody to act responsibly. The EU has already decided to send a mission of stability, a mission of rule of law. It should contribute to the stability of the Balkans.”
Janez Jansa, the Slovenian Prime Minister, whose Government is chairing today's ministerial meeting, said that the independence move would not change his country's policy of ensuring stability in the region and “as unified a European Union standpoint as possible”.
Faced with the latest change on the continent's political landscape, David Milliband, the British Foreign Secretary, said: “It is critical that Europe shows real leadership in how it ensures that peace and stability are the order of the day in the Western Balkans.”
The EU ministers are looking to adopt a statement by the end of the day that will take note of Kosovo's declaration and will confirm the “European perspective” of the entire Western Balkans - a standard phrase pointing to eventual EU membership.
Most individual EU members, led by Britain, France and Italy, are ready to give early recognition to the new state. The French Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner, described independence as “a great success for Europe” which should not be seen as a defeat for Serbia.
Olli Rehn, the European Enlargement Commissioner, maintained that Kosovo was a unique case that would not set a precedent for other breakaway regions in the world. He praised Kosovan leaders for agreeing to respect minority rights in line with the plan drafted by Martti Ahtisaari, the UN special envoy to Kosovo and former Prime Minister of Finald
There were contradictory responses from Berlin. The German Foreign Minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, described Kosovo's independence as inevitable, while Chancellor Angela Merkel made it clear that her Government would not take an immediate decision today.
A minority of the 27 EU countries — including Cyprus, Greece, Slovakia, Spain, Bulgaria and Romania — have made it clear that they will not go down the recognition route. Either they harbour legal misgivings or, particularly in the case of Spain and Cyprus, they do not want to give precedents to domestic minorities seeking to secede.
There was hostile reaction from Russia, Serbia's close ally, which called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Councilon, on which it holds veto power as a permanent member. It said that Kosovo's independence violated the UN Charter, threatened to spark new conflict and encouraged separatists elsewhere.
A senior Russian diplomat urged Ban Ki Moon , the UN Secretary-General, to oppose Kosovan independence as the Kremlin sought to rally support for its stance, Interfax news agency reported.
Aleksander Botsan-Kharchenko, the Foreign Ministry's special envoy to the Balkans, was quoted as saying that Moscow expects Ban Ki Moon to proceed from an earlier UN Security Council Resolution that recognised Kosovo as part of Serbia. “He should adhere to the UN Charter and UN Security Council resolution 1244 on Kosovo,” he said.
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