(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-11-26 15:37

BADEN - Kosovo's leaders say they are prepared for opposition from Serbia if last-ditch talks on the province's future in the next two days fail to find a compromise and it declares independence.

"We have nowhere to go and we are ready to face all the challenges," outgoing Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku said in the Austrian spa town of Baden, where the talks were due to open on Monday.

Serbia enters the talks knowing it has failed to persuade a significant number of European Union member states to oppose independence for the breakaway Serb province.

Instead, it is focused on what to do when Kosovo declares independence, probably in February, with Western recognition expected within weeks. Some analysts expect a series of obstructive measures such as protests and roadblocks.

"What they are planning to do has nothing to do with what we are aiming to achieve with these talks," Ceku told reporters.

"But we are very much aware that with a declaration of independence as a necessary step, we are going to be faced with some challenges."

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said at the weekend that "Serbia needs to be united and show that for us it is illegal and that Kosovo is an integral part of Serbia".

Recognition by the United States or any other country could not turn an illegal move into a legal one, Kostunica said.

Kosovo has waited eight years for its future status to be decided since NATO military intervention and its handover to UN control in 1999.

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