In response to growing fears and ambiguous statements from officials about the Serbian response to a possible unilateral declaration of independence, the Serbian Foreign Minister reaffirmed his country’s commitment to the use of diplomatic weapons.

Below is an article published by ADN Kronos:

Serbia will deploy all political and diplomatic means in its fight to block independence of its breakaway Kosovo province with majority ethnic Albanians but will not resort to military warfare, foreign minister Vuk Jeremic said on Friday [12 October 2007].

“Serbia will not threaten with violence. We will strictly stick to international law,” Jeremic said in an interview published on Friday in the top weekly NIN.

"We will use all political and diplomatic means, but will not take unilateral militarily action,” he added.

[…]

Kosovo has been under United Nations control since 1999, when NATO bombing drove Serbian forces out of the province, amid gross human rights violations perpetrated amid ethnic fighting.

Belgrade opposes Kosovo's independence, demanded by ethnic Albanians. The province remains part of Serbia under UN Security Council Resolution 1244.

Serbia’s ally, Russia, has blocked in the Security Council a plan by the chief UN negotiator Martti Ahtisaari that proposed internationally supervised independence for Kosovo.

The UN in August formed a negotiating 'troika' made up of American diplomat Frank Wiesner, Russia’s Aleksandar Bocan Harcenko and European Union’s Wolfgang Ischinger.

The three are seeking a negotiated settlement and on 10 December [2007] are due to submit a report to the UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon.

Ethnic Albanian leaders have threatened they might declare independence unilaterally if a settlement isn’t reached by the 10 December [2007] deadline.

The US has hinted it might support such a move.

But Jeremic warned that “setting artificial deadlines” was detrimental to the negotiating process. “I firmly believe that we will seek a solution until we find it,” he said.

“As long as someone thinks that after a period of time he would automatically realise his goals, it hampers constructive talks,” he explained.

Tensions have meanwhile been growing in the province with ethnic Albanians loosing patience with the prolonged negotiating process.

[…]

"The threat of violence shouldn’t be an argument in the (negotiating) process,” Jeremic said. He said a negotiated settlement was the only viable solution for Kosovo.

The decision should be made in the UN Security Council, where Serbia counts on support from its Russian support, and in keeping with Resolution 1244, he said.

Jeremic has been touring the capitals to rally diplomatic support for Serbia's stance on Kosovo. He will on Sunday [14 October 2007] hold another round of talks with ethnic Albanian leaders in Brussels and is Rome on Monday and Tuesday [15 & 16 October 2007] where he will meet Italian foreign minister Massimo D’Alema.

Italy is a member of a six-nation Contact Group which coordinates Kosovo talks, and like most western powers supports the independence move.

But Jeremic said Serbia could still rely on Russian support, saying there were “no indications” that Moscow would change its position.

Italy is Serbia’s top trade partner and its support for Kosovo's independence is seen as a major disappointment by Belgrade. Serbian politicians have warned that Italy’s recognition of Kosovo independence would inevitable damage future trade relations.