Serbia begins final talks on Kosovo on Monday knowing it has failed to persuade a significant number of European Union member states to oppose independence for the breakaway province. There is also virtually no hope of an 11th hour compromise in the two and a half days of talks with Kosovo Albanian leaders, due to take place in a spa town near Vienna.
Instead, Serbia is now focused on what to do when they declare independence, probably in February, with Western recognition within weeks. Some analysts expect a raft of obstructive measures such as protests and road blocks. "All of Serbia needs to be united and show that for us it is illegal and that Kosovo is an integral part of Serbia," Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said on Saturday.
He said unilateral decisions by Kosovo Albanians would be annulled and "Kosovo Serbs will always be Serbian citizens"-an indication Serbia would try to keep the Serb-held north.
"American or any other recognition of unilateral independence cannot turn an unlawful situation into something normal," the prime minister told Tanjug state news agency. Kosovo has waited eight years for its future status to be decided since Nato military intervention and its handover to UN control in 1999 to stop ethnic cleansing by Serb forces under the late autocrat Slobodan Milosevic.