http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Politics/?id=1.0.1911420714
ADN KRONOS INTERNATIONAL (ITALY) Kosovo: Serbian minister arrives on controversial visit Pristina, 25 Feb. (AKI) - Serbian minister for Kosovo Slobodan Samardzic on Monday arrived on a controversial visit to Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia on 17 February, ignoring warnings that we would be stopped at the border. Samardzic was scheduled to visit the Serbian enclaves in Kosovo to encourage local Serbs not to leave the province and to remain in their homes, his office said. But chief United Nations administrator in Kosovo, Joachim Ruecker, said on Sunday he would bar Samardzic from entering the province "for security reasons". It was earlier announced that Samardzic would also met with Ruecker. Whether the meeting will take place was however unclear. The head of the Serbian office in the ethnically divided northern Kosovo town of Kosovska Mitrovica , Rade Negojevic, told Adnkronos International (AKI) that Samardzic had crossed the border into Kosovo without problems and was meeting with local Serbs. He couldn't confirm, however, whether a meeting with Rucker would take place. Samardzic has been the most outspoken critic of Kosovo independence and of western countries that have recognised it. Ethnic Albanian majority Kosovo's secession has angered Serbs, who view it as the cradle of Serb civilisation. There has been violence in the Serb capital, Belgrade and in Kosovo. Thousands of Serbs held demonstrations in European capitals Sunday, and the government has recalled its ambassadors to the US and other western powers that have recognised Kosovo.
