British official steps up pressure on Serbia over its UN resolution on Kosovo

British FM Hague pressures Serbia over Kosovo

BELGRADE, Serbia — Britain’s foreign secretary urged Serbia on Tuesday not to challenge Kosovo’s independence at the U.N. General Assembly, and the Balkan country’s president said it is open to a compromise on the resolution.

The debate underscores the tensions that linger over Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence.

Britain, the U.S. and major European Union powers are among 69 countries that have backed Kosovo’s move. But Serbia, supported by Russia and China, maintains that it will never accept an independent Kosovo.

Serbia has submitted a resolution for the early September U.N. meeting in New York that calls Kosovo’s declaration “unacceptable” and requests more talks on its status.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague, however, said that if Belgrade reconsiders the resolution, it would help Serbia’s bid for membership in the EU.

Serbia’s Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said Serbia is not ready to withdraw the resolution, but would work with the EU and other Western powers to amend it.

Hague said “an agreed approach and an agreed text between the EU and Serbia” is necessary. “The best way to achieve that would be to have a new resolution.”

“The place for Serbia and all the nations in the western Balkans is in the EU,” Hague said at a news conference with Jeremic.

President Boris Tadic of Serbia said after meeting with Hague that his country “is ready for a compromise” over the document, “so it would be acceptable to both Serbia and the international community.”

“Out of the question is only a compromise” that would make Serbia recognize Kosovo’s independence, Tadic said in a statement.

Serbs consider Kosovo — now populated mostly by some 2 million ethnic Albanians — the medieval cradle of their statehood. But Serbia lost control of the territory during a 1998-99 war against ethnic Albanian rebels, and the ensuing NATO air bombardment that led to an international administration of Kosovo.

Last month, the U.N.’s highest court said in an advisory opinion that Kosovo’s 2008 declaration was not against international law. Still, many countries in the 192-member U.N. General Assembly are hesitant to recognize Kosovo, with some fearing it could embolden their own separatist movements.

Associated Press writer Dusan Stojanovic contributed to this report.