Serbian president visits Kosovo (Roundup)

Apr 17, 2009, 14:24 GMT

Pristina - Serbian president Boris Tadic on Friday visited Kosovo and called for the peace in Kosovo, local media reported.

Kosovo officials earlier on Friday granted Tadic permission for a 'private visit' to Decani monastery in western Kosovo. Tadic visited Decani to spend Orthodox Good Friday there with monks and believers, Tadic's cabinet told Belgrade media.

'My message today in Decani is a message of peace, of peace for the Serbs and peace for the Albanians who live in Kosovo and in Serbia. A message of peace, because without the peace we cannot live normally,' Tadic said in Decani.

The president's visit to Kosovo was marred with controversy as Kosovo officials earlier said they will not allow him to enter Kosovo and Tadic's cabinet in Belgrade saying they didn't ask for the permission to enter Serbia's south province.

After the consultations with the international representatives and EU representative for Kosovo Pieter Feith's recommendation to allow Tadic to visit, Kosovo government on Friday morning decided to grant him the entrance.

'Prime Minister Hashim Thaci decided to grant the entrance to the president of Serbia so that he could undertake a private visit to the Decani monastery for Orthodox Easter,' Memli Krasniqi, spokesperson for the Kosovo government told German Press Agency dpa.

Due to security concerns Tadic was flown by international forces' helicopter to Decani.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in February 2008 and was recognized by most of the EU and United States. Serbia bitterly opposes it and Tadic has repeatedly said that Belgrade will never recognize Kosovo and always consider it as its southern province.