PREVIEW: Serbs set to raise stakes in Kosovo with referendum

By Boris Babic Feb 13, 2012, 2:06 GMT

Belgrade - Serbs living in northern Kosovo are widely expected to reject the authority of Pristina over their enclave in a referendum this week, in another inflammatory act of defiance aimed at Belgrade and the West.

Ethnic Albanians make up 90 per cent of the population in Kosovo, but Serbs still dominate a handful of enclaves, including the largest in the north.

The 35,000 Serbs there intend to use the referendum, which will have no legal effect, to underline their opposition to the independence of Kosovo and the authority of its government.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia four years ago. However, while the new country has been recognized by Western powers, Belgrade and Kosovo Serbs still regard it as their own province.

The outcome of the vote is expected to raise tensions in an already volatile Kosovo. Concern that it could harm Serbia's bid to join the European Union has prompted Belgrade to condemn it.

'It erodes our credibility and potential in negotiations with the international community,' Serbian Kosovo Minister Goran Bogdanovic said in an interview last week. 'The result is known in advance, as we all oppose Kosovo institutions - then what is the point?'

Meanwhile, the commander of the NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, German General Erhard Drews, warned that the vote may provoke extremist Albanians.

'It may provoke Albanian nationalists into attacks on the Serbian minority in the south,' Drews was quoted as saying in the online edition of the German magazine Focus. 'That must be prevented by all means.'

Serbia hopes to be recognized as a candidate for EU membership in February, but for that it must show progress in talks with Kosovo and resolve crippling problems - such as transport, energy and police cooperation - that stem from the secession.

Belgrade is also expected to end its support for the often violent resistance shown by Serbs in Kosovo towards Pristina.

Since July, Serbs in the north have been barricading roads to stop the deployment of Kosovo customs officers to border points between the enclave and Serbia, spawning several rounds of violence. A Kosovo policeman was killed and several NATO troops injured.

The governing coalition grouped around Serbian President Boris Tadic has called on the Serbs to end the blockade, refrain from violence and abandon the referendum - but has also flatly refused to stop financing the so-called parallel authorities in northern Kosovo.

Several EU nations, including heavyweight Germany, want Serbia to do exactly that and effectively force the Serbs to begin making deals with Pristina.

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