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Monday February 25, 10:40 AM Serbia blames U.S. for crisis in Balkans BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbia went back on the offensive over Kosovo's independence on Sunday by blaming the United States for a crisis in the Balkans while its ally Russia accused the Americans of destroying "world order." Three days after rioters in Belgrade attacked Western embassies and looted shops, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said it was Washington that was threatening peace and stability. "The United States must annul the decision to recognize a false state on the territory of Serbia," Kostunica said. "It must reaffirm U.N. 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." Serbia has expressed official regret for riots last Thursday during which the U.S. embassy was attacked and set on fire. Kosovo declared independence last Sunday. Slobodan Samardzic, Serbia's Minister for Kosovo, blamed the United States for the riots. On Sunday, the United Nations mission in Kosovo said it had turned down a request from Samarzdic to visit Serb-dominated northern Kosovo, citing "public security concerns." Kostunica is due to host Russian President Vladimir Putin's likely successor, Dmitry Medvedev, on Monday after the Russian foreign ministry again demanded a "compromise" on Kosovo. "Do support for the Kosovo Albanian side alone, contempt for law for the sake of so-called 'political expediency', and indifference to the fate of a hundred thousand Serbs who... are effectively being driven into a ghetto not amount to flagrant cynicism?" the ministry said in a statement. "Is it not cynical that the Serb people is being openly humiliated while Belgrade is being promised a Euro-Atlantic future if it agrees to the carve-up of Serbia?" The foreign ministry statement recalled Russia had a peacekeeping contingent in Kosovo from 1999 to 2004, under the aegis of the NATO-led KFOR force which has 17,000 troops there. "It was withdrawn due to our fundamental disagreement with bias favoring one side in Kosovo matters..." the ministry said. Instead of supporting Kosovo Albanian independence and other actions "destroying world order," there must be "a decision based on law and compromise between Belgrade and Pristina," the ministry statement said. It did not say what compromise Russia has in mind. On the ground in Kosovo, ethnic Serbs in the north are making steady efforts to resist the authority of the new state and its Western backers, with the support of Serbia and Russia. Diplomats believe Kosovo is headed for partition, although Serbia has never formally proposed that. (Editing by Robert Woodward)
