Serbia blames Washington for Balkan crisis

SERBIA was back on the offensive over Kosovo’s independence yesterday, blaming the United States for the crisis in the Balkans while its ally Russia accused the Americans of destroying “world order”.

Three days after young rioters in Belgrade embarrassed the country by attacking Western embassies and looting shops, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said it is Washington that is threatening peace. In a strongly worded statement from Moscow, Russia also accused Washington of trampling on international law.

“The United States must annul the decision to recognise a false state on the territory of Serbia,” Mr Kostunica said.

“It must reaffirm UN Security Council resolution 1244, which guarantees Serbia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“Continuation of the policy of force will deepen the crisis that undermines the foundations of world order and threatens peace and stability in the Balkans,” he said.

Meanwhile, the US ambassador to Serbia expressed outrage at rioters who set fire to the American embassy in Belgrade and demanded that Serbian leaders prevent any more violence against diplomatic missions.

Ambassador Cameron Munter also criticised Serb political leaders who have defended the riots as a “legitimate” form of protest over Kosovo’s independence declaration, which the US enthusiastically supported.

“That kind of incendiary language... is not only wrong but it is an embarrassment, and it is leading further to the diplomatic isolation of Serbia, which is in nobody’s interest,” Mr Munter said.

His remarks came a day after several Serbian officials blamed the US for violence by Serb protesters.

“The United States is the main culprit ... for all those violent acts,” Serbia’s Minister for Kosovo Slobodan Samardzic said on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Kosovo marked its first full week of independence with prayers and protests yesterday as outraged Serbs geared up for demonstrations across Europe.

Serbs refusing to let Kosovo secede from Serbia without a fight planned to stage their seventh straight day of protests in the ethnically divided northern town of Kosovska Mitrovica, where UN police and Nato-led peacekeepers maintained a presence aimed at discouraging any violence.

Serbs also planned anti-independence rallies in Geneva, Vienna and other European capitals.