Serbian President Boris Tadic said Saturday that military force would not be used to solve the crisis over the breakaway province of Kosovo, according to dpa. Speaking in Belgrade, Tadic - who is commander-in-chief of Serbia's armed forces - said: "As long as I'm president of Serbia, there will be no policy which leads the youth into renewed uncertainty, war and destruction," according to reports. If the United States and the European Union recognized Kosovo as an independent state, Serbia would counter "with all legal means," he said. Serbia insists on sovereignty over the province, which is inhabited by two million independence-seeking Albanians and around 100,000 Serbs. "We do not want any kind of violence. We do not want war and will prove that we are a European democracy and a responsible people," Tadic added. "As to the advocates of war in our country, I find that in reality they wish that Serbia loses Kosovo permanently." Serbia would then be forced to wage war against the whole world, he said, adding, "We experienced this a few years ago." The extreme right-wing radicals who form the strongest party in the country have repeatedly threatened that Serbia would use military force to stop Kosovo's secession. Mediators from the United States, Russia and the European Union are due to arrive in Belgrade and in Kosovo's capital, Pristina, on Monday following the failure of the latest round of talks on the province's future in Austria this week. Kosovo has been under United Nations administration since 1999. The majority Albanians want to proclaim independence in consultation with Brussels and Washington after December 10.
