The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Brussels

Kosovo's declaration of independence is a matter of days away, the Serbian province's Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said Thursday.

"It is an issue of days," Thaci told reporters in Brussels when asked whether the expected independence proclamation was days or weeks away. However several European diplomats suggested Kosovo's largely ethnic Albanian population would have to wait another month or so before the declaration.

"Kosovo is ready. we will proclaim independence very soon," Thaci declared after meeting with EU foreign affairs chief Javier Solana.

While some "procedures" would need to be respected before the proclamation could be made, everything was ready, including a national constitution and symbols, he said.

Thaci said Kosovo was not planning the action unilaterally. Independence would be declared "in coordination with the European Union and the United States," he stressed.

The United States and the European Union, as well as Kosovo, were keen to present a "coordinated declaration of independence" rather than a totally unilateral move on the part of the breakaway Serb province.

The move has the support of the EU's 27 member states, but Belgrade, backed by Russia, is firmly opposed to giving independence to a region it regards as an historic Serbian heartland. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned European nations Tuesday that there was a danger in delaying resolution of the issue of Kosovo's status. Diplomats close to Thaci's talks with EU officials said that, as things stand, they were not expecting a declaration of independence until late February or early March.

"I think they (the Kosovars) are going to have to wait a little bit longer," one said. "There is nevertheless a risk, if the nationalist forces win the (Serbian presidential election) that that will encourage the Kosovars to press for a rapid recognition," he added.

Several diplomats spoke of the possibility of most European leaders officially declaring their intention to recognise an independent Kosovo at an EU summit scheduled for mid-March.

The issue is complicated by Serbia's ongoing presidential election which pits hardline nationalist Tomislav Nikolic against pro-European incumbent Boris Tadic in a decisive second-round run-off on February 3. Nikolic, who favours closer ties with Russia, won 39.99 percent of the vote in this month's first-round vote compared with Tadic's 35.39 percent. Thaci also held talks with EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn who, his spokeswoman Krisztine Nagy said, "is in favour of a coordinated process".

"It is better to resort to diplomatic means than public statements," she said.

Following 18 months of failed negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina, the majority ethnic Albanian province has long vowed to declare independence.

The United Nations has run Kosovo since 1999, when a NATO bombing campaign drove out Belgrade's forces waging a crackdown on independence-seeking ethnic Albanians who make up 90 percent of the population.

The European Union has been putting together a police and judiciary mission of around 1,800 personnel which could be deployed to help ease the transition to local rule. Russia's new ambassador to NATO urged Serbia on Thursday to stand up to Western countries that were ready to back independence for Kosovo, saying such a split by the province would open a "Pandora's box".