Thousands Of Serbs Protest UN Kosovo Plan

The demonstration in Kosovska Mitrovica today (epa) February 9 2007 -- Several thousand Serbian demonstrators gathered in the northern Kosovo town of Kosovska Mitrovica today to protest a United Nations proposal for the province's future status.

Protesters carried signs saying "Autonomy, yes; Independence, never," and called on Russia to veto the plan in the UN Security Council.

Earlier today, UN mediator Albert Rohan said talks on the province's final status will start on February 21, a week later than originally planned.

(AFP, dpa)

The Kremlin Looks At Kosovo...And Beyond

Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) greets Serbian President Boris Tadic in the Kremlin in November 2005 (TASS)

WILL THE KREMLIN BACK INDEPENDENCE? As the drive for independence grows in the Serbian province of Kosovo, the international community is speculating on how Russia, a veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council, will act. On September 22, Nicholas Whyte, director of the International Crisis Group's Europe Program, gave a briefing on the subject at RFE/RL's Washington, D.C., office. He speculated on what the Kremlin's "price" might be for agreeing to Kosovo's separation from Serbia.