EU will not press Serbia to give up Kosovo, Barroso says

DPA, Jul 18, 2006, 19:00 GMT

Brussels - The European Union will not press Serbia to grant independence to Kosovo, European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said Tuesday.

\'Nobody is trying to impose a solution on Serbia,\' Barroso told reporters after a meeting with Serbian president Boris Tadic.

The commission chief said that the EU was fully backing United Nations\' efforts to steer negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina.

Tadic said Serbia was ready to participate in Kosovo status negotiations, but expected the UN Kosovo envoy Martti Ahtisaari to set Belgrade \'normal conditions for this kind of talks.\'

\'We are not satisfied with talks in the past, we expect more,\' Tadic said, adding that Serbia was trying to achieve a compromise in the hot issue.

\'We are trying to preserve the legitimate integrity of our territory, of our country,\' he said, adding that independence for Kosovo would be a threat to security in the region.

The European Union Monday presented new plans aimed at making itself the \'driving force\' in the development of independence-seeking Kosovo. EU support would include a security and defence policy operation which will focus on the justice and police sector.

The seventh round of talks on the future of Kosovo is being held in Vienna on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo are stalled with Pristina demanding full independence for the Serb province inhabited mostly by ethnic Albanians who want independence Kosovo, and Belgrade refusing it and instead offering some sort of autonomy for the province.

Belgrade is supported by Moscow in keeping intact Serbian territory following a recent breakup with Montenegro.