Serbia pleads for no recognition of a breakaway Kosovo

Serbian President Boris Tadic made a last-minute plea to world leaders Friday to avoid recognizing an independent Kosovo, insisting that though Serbia remains committed to full integration with Europe, “we cannot accept the dismemberment of our nation.”

With the Serbian province now widely expected to declare independence Feb. 17, Tadic warned that the only way to avoid potential new turmoil in the region was to achieve a negotiated resolution that was supported by all parties and backed by the United Nations Security Council.

“The alternative is a dangerous leap into the dark unknown in a time of great global turbulence,” the Serbian leader told an international security conference here. “The precedent that would be established should Serbia be partitioned against its will -- which is what the imposed independence of Kosovo is, in truth -- could in turn result in the escalation of many existing conflicts, the reactivation of a number of frozen conflicts, and the instigation of how many new conflicts.”

On Friday in Belgrade, the Serbian capital, a small explosion shook a shopping center and another mall had to be evacuated. A day earlier, about 300 members of the nationalist group Obraz had marched on an art gallery in an attempt to disrupt the opening of an exhibition from Kosovo, but were blocked by police.

At least 90% of Kosovo’s 2 million residents are ethnic Albanians who have chafed in the past under often-brutal Serb dominion. Yet the province is viewed passionately by most Serbs as the heartland of their ethnic identity -- the site of several historic monasteries and the scene of a 14th century battle between Serbs and Turks whose story of devastating loss is told to Serb children.

The failure of years of negotiations to produce any result has left the U.S. and leading nations of the European Union prepared to recognize Kosovo’s independence, though it is strongly opposed by several smaller EU nations and, most vigorously, by Russia.

Russia sees Serbia not only as an Orthodox Christian ally, but fears the decision to break up a sovereign nation to create a new ethnic state could have worrisome implications not only for Russian regions such as Chechnya, but could activate a series of latent conflicts around Russia’s flanks in such places as Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Trans-Dniester.

Tadic indirectly acknowledged his nation’s role in starting the Kosovo conflict under the late President Slobodan Milosevic. “The folly of Milosevic brought my nation to the awful choice between treason or intransigence. We don’t deserve this today,” he said.

With the EU preparing to authorize deployment of a substantial new force in Kosovo, Tadic said the Serbs “welcome as a matter of principle any demonstration of Europe’s deepening commitment to the western Balkans, . . . but at the same time, we must all be very careful about cutting corners.”

“Any fresh international engagement in our southern province must pass the scrutiny of the Security Council of the United Nations,” he said.

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kim.murphy@latimes.com

London Bureau chief Murphy is on assignment in Germany.