Serbs in Mass Rally Against Kosovo Independence

The rally came as several hundred former Serbian army reservists stormed a crossing post on the border with Kosovo.

More than 150,000 protestors rallied in Belgrade on Thursday against Kosovo independence, as violence flared on the tense Serbia-Kosovo border and more countries recognised the breakaway state. Chanting "Kosovo is the heart of Serbia" in front of the old copper-domed Yugoslav parliament, the crowds had poured into the capital in convoys of trains, buses and cars from all over the Balkan country.
"We must show that we are all against this fake independence. Taking Kosovo away from Serbia is like taking away your leg, arm or even child," said Vesna Vujacic, a 54-year-old teacher.

The rally came as several hundred former Serbian army reservists stormed a crossing post on the border with Kosovo, and Italy joined other European powers in recognising the independence of the breakaway Serbian province.
Thick black plumes of smoke billowed above the border post of Merdare in southern Serbia, after the group of about 400 reservists attacked around 100 police with stones and burning tyres in a 20-minute assault.
It was the latest in a series of violent incidents that followed Sunday's unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia by Kosovo's ethnic Albanian-dominated parliament -- a move vehemently opposed by Belgrade.

Two other border crossing points at Banja and Jarinje were closed for 24 hours from Tuesday after at least 1,000 Serbs from Kosovo and Serbia ransacked and torched the two sites.
NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) peacekeepers accused Kosovo's minority Serb community of responsibility, but Serb leaders hit back, calling KFOR "a servant" of US interests.
Earlier on Thursday, in the Bosnian Serb stronghold of Banja Luka, protesters hurled stones at police who fought back with tear gas at an anti-Kosovo independence rally.
So far, 23 of the 27 EU member states have backed Kosovo's independence, either formally recognising it or declaring their intention to do so. Cyprus, Romania and Spain have explicitly refused to do either.

The latest countries to give their nod to Kosovo on Thursday were Italy, Denmark, Estonia, Luxembourg and Slovenia, which declared its own independence from the former communist Yugoslavia in 1991.
At the Belgrade rally, Rado Dragovic, said he had flown in specially for the rally from his home in Bar, Montenegro. "I came by plane this morning. All Serbs must be here to show to Europe and the whole world that this is Serbian land, a Serbian shrine, Serbian soul," Dragovic said.
Thousands of people were still walking to the "Kosovo is Serbia" rally when the event kicked off with the Serbian national anthem.

Addressing the huge crowd, nationalist Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica promised Serbia would never accept Kosovo's independence in an emotive speech. "Kosovo is Serbia's first name. Kosovo belongs to Serbia. Kosovo belongs to Serbian people. It has been like this forever and it will be like this forever," said Kostunica.

The rally was also addressed by Tomislav Nikolic of the ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party, and Bosnian Serb Prime Minister Milorad Dodik. "Hitler could not take (Kosovo) away, nor will these ones today be able to," said Nikolic, referring to the Western powers supporting Kosovo.
"You, from the United States and the European Union, you caused huge sadness in our hearts," said Nikolic, speaking on behalf of the parliament where his party is the single strongest force.
"We tell you, we were sad for two days, on the third day Serbs burnt checkpoints, on the fourth day we gathered at the biggest rally Serbia has ever seen.
"We will preserve every inch of our territory."

Following the speeches, protesters began to march towards the massive Temple of Sait Sava to hear "prayers for Kosovo," led by Serbian Orthodox archbishops.
Serbia's pro-West president, Boris Tadic, could not attend because of a visit to Romania, one of only five EU countries that have said they will not recognise an independent Kosovo.
"Serbia will never recognise Kosovo.... But neither will it renounce its future membership of the European Union," Tadic told a joint news conference with his Romanian counterpart Traian Basescu.
Kosovo came under UN control in mid-1999, following NATO's air war to drive out forces loyal to Serbia's late autocratic president Slobodan Milosevic waging a crackdown on its separatist Albanian guerrillas and their civilian supporters.