Kosovo Serbs Vent Independence Anger

Protestors carried Serbian flags and placards `Kosovo is not for sale` and `Kosovo is Serbia, forever.`

Thousands of angry Serbs took to the streets in their strongholds across Kosovo on Monday to protest against the declaration of independence by the mainly ethnic Albanian province.
The protestors were urged to "publicly express their frustrations against the creation of another Albanian state in the Balkans" by hardline local Serb leader Marko Jaksic.
Some 2,000 eagerly responded to his call in the ethnically divided northern town of Mitrovica, raising their hands in the air to reject of Kosovo's independence announced on Sunday and fiercely opposed by Belgrade.
Jaksic, a member of Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica's conservative nationalist party, then declared: "(There) will never be an independent Kosovo."
"The EU mission is not welcome here, it will not be welcome for a second. They are intruders, occupiers and abductors of our land," Jaksic said, urging Serbs not to sell their property and flee.
As Jaksic spoke, around a dozen police watched on some 100 metres (300 feet) away at either end of a NATO-guarded bridge over the Ibar River, which splits the town's Serb-populated north from its Albanian south.
In Brussels, European Union foreign ministers were meeting Monday to at least "take note" of the proclamation and support the 2,000-strong EU police and justice mission to Kosovo it launched on Saturday.
Jaksic called on Belgrade not to sign any agreements with the 27-member bloc which, he said, "wants to occupy our country."
"If something like this happens, we will all come (to Belgrade) and stay there as long as those shameful, traitor-like accords are not annulled," Jaksic warned.
As a NATO-led Kosovo Force helicopter flew overhead, he told the gathering that Serbia "must use all it has to defend Kosovo. Our lives here are more important than easing the visa regime."
Student groups pledged to organise daily protests in Mitrovica at 12:44 pm (1144 GMT) -- in a reference to UN Security Council Resolution 1244 -- to show they "will never give up Kosovo."
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 approved the deployment of a UN mission eight years ago after NATO bombing ousted Serbian forces which were fighting Kosovo Albanian separatists.
The protestors marched from the central square towards the bridge dividing Mitrovica between its Serb and Albanian citizens.
Strong police cordons were positioned on both sides of the bridge, but Serb protestors did not try to cross to the other side.
Protestors carried Serbian flags and placards "Kosovo is not for sale" and "Kosovo is Serbia, forever."
One man carried a US flag bearing the inscription "4th Reich."
"We cannot give up," said Zivan, a 19-year-old student who described Kosovo as his people's "holy land."
Kosovo is dotted with dozens of centuries-old Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries.
A group of hardline football fans tried to confront the squads of police, throwing a flare at them, but soon were calmed down.
Serbs have already threatened to secede in the north of Kosovo and link up with Serbia proper, but Belgrade has not formally backed these plans.
Their refusal to recognise the independence of Kosovo puts in question the Serbs' participation in Kosovo's institutions such as the police and courts.
A Serb from Mitrovica, working for the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe mission in Kosovo, told AFP under condition of anonymity that his employers had advised him not to come to work for several days.
In the Serb enclave of Gracanica, more than 1,000 people gathered for a church service and to rally against Sunday's declaration.
"We call on the UN Security Council to ensure the full security of Serbs, while we want Belgrade to reveal its strategy for our survival here," said protester Zvonirmi Stevic.
"We want to stay but with dignity, with freedom of movement, with conditions for a normal life, not avoiding a joint life with the Albanians," he added.