Serbia rejects Kosovo independence bid

Serbia already has endorsed a secret "Action Plan" to be implemented if the province declares independence.

This is believed to include retaliatory steps to encourage Kosovo's 100,000-strong Serb minority, concentrated mostly in the north of the province, to formally keep their territories under Serbian control — a de facto partitioning of the province.

BELGRADE (AFP) — Serbia and Russia stepped up warnings on Thursday that they would not accept the independence of Kosovo ahead of a UN Security Council emergency meeting on the breakaway province.

Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated his support for Serbia, stressing that any "unilateral declaration of independence would be immoral and illegal."

In a four-page document, the Serbian government said it had also decided to proclaim as "null and void all decisions by the European Union to send a mission to Kosovo.

"These decisions have no legal foundation for Serbia and produce no obligation of Serbia towards the European Union," it read.

The United States and most members of the European Union have said they will recognise a declaration of independence by Kosovo, a mountainous province of some two million people which Serbs consider their historic heartland.

Serbia has been backed by several EU members such as Cyprus and Slovakia, as well as Russia.

Belgrade has already devised an "action plan" for measures to take once Kosovo proclaims independence, but its content has been declared a state secret.

Retaliatory measures reportedly include the possibility of Serbia breaking off diplomatic relations with countries that recognise Kosovo's independence, including the United States.

A government source said the most severe retaliatory measures would "almost certainly be taken against the United States" as it had been the strongest advocate for Kosovo's independence.