http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/02/22/wbelgrade422 .xml
TELEGRAPH (UK) EU breaks off talks with Serbia after US embassy attack By Alex Todorovic in Belgrade, and Harry de Quetteville in Pristina Last Updated: 2:29pm GMT 22/02/2008 The EU has broken off talks on closer economic ties with Serbia after the US embassy was set ablaze during government-backed protests against Kosovo's independence. One person, thought to be a protestor, was killed as hundreds of Serbs smashed their way into the building, ripping down the Stars and Stripes. Fires were started on two floors while the mob, egged on by hardline elements in the 300,000 strong crowd, threw furniture from an office window. Masked demonstrators also attacked the British embassy and several others as police looked on. Negotiations on forming closer ties between Serbia and the EU, seen as a first step to eventual membership of the bloc, will now be put on hold until tensions ease, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said. The UN Security Council issued a statement which "condemned in the strongest terms the mob attacks against embassies in Belgrade, which have resulted in damage to embassy premises and have endangered diplomatic personnel." The US state department said it held the Serbian authorities responsible for the "intolerable" acts, prompting a limited apology from Belgrade "regretting" the "isolated acts of violence." It was not until the rioters turned their attention to the neighbouring Croatian embassy, that the authorities took action to quell the growing unrest and sent paramilitary police armed with teargas to expel the intruders. Firemen were then able to put out the blaze. The protesters fled into side streets where they fought running battles with the police. Earlier, the Serb prime minister, Vojislav Kostunica, had denounced the new Kosovo government and its backers in America and the European Union. "Kosovo belongs to Serbia," he said. "There is no force, no threat, no punishment that is strong enough and bad enough for any Serb to say differently." The world's third-seeded men's tennis player, Novak Djokovic, addressed the rally by video link. The vast protest was echoed by others across the Balkans as incensed Serbs demonstrated from Bosnia to Kosovo itself. Many Western embassies had closed their doors and warned their nationals to stay away from the protest. Despite the attack on the US embassy, most demonstrators remained calm as darkness fell over Belgrade's parliament square, the rallying point where bells rang out and prayer vigils were held. The seething crowds cheered as Mr Kostunica thanked Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, for Moscow's support. Electronic signs displaying the message "Kosovo is Serbia" were flashed up in Russian, as well as in Spanish - a reference to Spain's refusal to recognise the new state amid its own fears about Catalonia and the Basque country's aspirations for nationhood. The hardline nationalist Tomislav Nikolic, who narrowly lost Serbia's presidential election to the moderate Boris Tadic earlier this month, compared the struggle over Kosovo to the Second World War. He said: "Hitler could not take it away from us and we will not rest until Kosovo is again under Serbia's control."
