Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci confirmed that the ethnic Albanian-dominated Serb province will declare independence on Sunday, the Serbian Beta news agency reported.

 

 

The leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo Hashim Thaci, who won Kosovo's parliamentary elections last week, arrives at the European Council headquarters ahead of a meeting in Brussels November 20, 2007.

 

Thaci made the statement on Saturday after a meeting with religious leaders in provincial capital city of Pristina.

 

The Serbian government is expected to declare Kosovo independence null and void as it violates Serbia's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

 

It has also adopted a secret "Action Plan" to deal with the situation in case Kosovo declares independence.

 

On the world arena, Serbia's traditional ally Russia has pledged to oppose Kosovo's declaration of independence, while most European Union countries and the United States have offered quick recognition.

 

The EU agreed to send a 2,000-strong policing mission to Kosovo on Friday night.

 

Kosovo was a southern autonomous province within Serbia before the breakup of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Among its population of 2 million, over 90 percent are ethnic Albanians and Serbs make up about 7 percent.

 

The independence-seeking province has been run by the UN mission since 1999.

 

(Xinhua News Ageny February 17, 2008)