Serb leader asks nation to pin Kosovo on its heart
By Ellie Tzortzi BELGRADE, Feb 29 (Reuters) - Serbia's Prime Minister went on a charm offensive on Friday, handing out "Kosovo is Serbia" badges in downtown Belgrade to drive home a defiant policy one coalition partner says is heading for "collective insanity". In a rare walkabout, the normally dour Vojislav Kostunica was relaxed and smiling in the early afternoon sunshine. He vowed to fight Kosovo's declaration of independence even at the risk of alienating major Western powers that back it. "This badge says it all, it carries our symbols and the message 'Kosovo is Serbia', an undeniable truth lasting for centuries," he told reporters. Unlike the discreet Stars'n'Stripes lapel badges worn by many Americans, Kostunica's Kosovo badge is the size of an espresso saucer. "We have to arm ourselves with patience to get Kosovo back," Kostunica said. After several months of sitting on the sidelines while Kostunica worked up nationalist fervour, liberals in his coalition went on the offensive this week. Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic and Economy Minister Mladjan Dinkic both attacked Kostunica for his insistence that Belgrade keep on servicing Kosovo's $1.25 billion debt just to back up its legal case for sovereignty. "I cannot take part in a policy leading the nation to collective insanity," Dinkic told a television talk show. He said Kostunica's disregard of practical, bread-and-butter issues would cost Serbia dearly. "Is this taking Serbia forward, is this making Serbia stronger?" he asked. He compared Kostunica's intransigence to that of late autocrat Slobodan Milosevic, who led the country to a decade of war and isolation in the 1990s. "They seem to be competing who will be more disgusted with the West," Dinkic said. "This has got to stop. This behaviour is the height of irresponsibility." Belgrade lost control of its Albanian-majority southern province in 1999, when NATO bombing ousted Serb forces accused of killing civilians while battling a guerrilla insurgency. Kosovo declared independence on Feb. 17, getting swift recognition from the United States and major EU powers. Kostunica, who dominates a fragmented coalition made up of his nationalist Democratic Party of Serbia and pro-Western liberal parties, insisted on recalling ambassadors from capitals that recognised Kosovo, Serbia's medieval heartland. He has kept up a stream of withering rhetoric against Washington and Brussels, vowing to cool ties as long as the European Union insists on sending an "illegal" supervisory mission to guide Kosovo to full statehood. Kostunica, armed with the full support of Russia's Vladimir Putin, said Serbia acknowledged only the United Nations mission in Kosovo, which has run the province since 1999. "All other missions will be treated as illegal for Serbia. The EU mission is illegal," he told the crowd, some of whom wore badges reading 'I don't want to go to the EU'. (additional reporting by Gordana Filipovic; Editing by Douglas Hamilton and Matthew Jones)
