BELGRADE, July 25, 2007 (AFP) - The parliament of Serbia overwhelmingly voted late on Tuesday to back the government's resolution on Kosovo that has rejected any move to grant independence to the breakaway ethnic Albanian-populated province.
After more than eight hours of debate in a special parliament sesssion, the deputies, in a rare show of unity, voted by 217 votes for and only 12 against to adopt the resolution. Three MPs of 232 present at the session of the 250-seat assembly abstained.
The vote came just hours ahead of a Vienna meeting of the so-called Contact group -- the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Russia -- to discuss a new phase of negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina after the UN Security Council had failed to reach a joint stance.
"This is the best moment for the parliament to define Serbia's future strategy in solving the most important national issue," Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica told the deputies.
Months of UN-brokered talks between Serbian and Kosovo Albanian leaders in the past have failed to produce any significant compromises.
Serbia opposes any form of independence for its southern province, where ethnic Albanians make up about 90 percent of the population of two million.
Overcoming their political differences and ongoing bickering, both ruling reformist coalition and hardline opposition backed the government's resolution that insisted that "Kosovo is an inseparable part of Serbia in accordance with constitutional and international documents."
The resolution says the government will "respond promptly and energetically" to any indication of unilateral recognition of an independent Kosovo, but the draft gives no details on measures the government should take.
"Serbia will reject any attempt by (Kosovo) Albanians to unilaterally proclaim independence," Kostunica warned.
He added that "any state that wants normal and friendly relations with Serbia must respect the UN charter, which guarantees that the internationally recognized borders cannot be altered."
However, Aleksandar Vucic of the hardline nationalist Serbian Radical party accused the government of being "too meak" and demanded a break of diplomatic relations with any state recognizing an independent Kosovo.
His party leader Tomislav Nikolic called on the government to give up its plans for Serbia to join the European Union and NATO and "use all available means to defend our Kosovo."
Only the minor opposition Liberal Democratic Party and representatives of the ethnic Hungarian minority rejected the resolution, with liberals saying the province should be independent as it had been already lost to the ethnic Albanians during the rule of late strongman Slobodan Milosevic.
The resolution also said Serbia "is ready to begin a new phase of negotiations" and "it is necessary that international factors, along with Serbian representatives, ensure real negotiations."
Serbian President Boris Tadic told the deputies that Serbia's position was now "much better" but warned that "this does not mean that things are great and that everything has been settled."
"We face difficult days and negotiations we still do not know anything about, what form they will have, who they will be led by, as all of this has yet to be defined," Tadic said.
Tadic called for a "national political unity" in the process of negotiations expected to begin in August.
The resolution warned that, "unlike unsuccessful negotiations led by (UN envoy) Martti Ahtisaari, any new talks must be unlimited in terms of outcome and duration."
Belgrade has so far proposed a wide autonomy for the province, but ethnic Albanians, who outnumber Serbs in Kosovo nine to one, have vowed they would accept nothing short of independence.
Technically still a province of Serbia, Kosovo has been under UN administration since a NATO bombing campaign in 1999 ended a Serbian crackdown on the separatist ethnic Albanian majority in the territory.
an/bm AFP 242256 GMT 07 07
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