Russia renews support for Serbs over Kosovo

By Oleg Shchedrov

BELGRADE (Reuters) - Russia's likely next president, Dmitry Medvedev, told Serbian leaders on Monday there would be no shift in Moscow's support for Serbian sovereignty over Kosovo.

Medvedev, the Kremlin-backed frontrunner for president, met pro-Western President Boris Tadic and nationalist Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, who has long leaned on Moscow for help against the secession of Serbia's southern province.

"The point of my brief visit was to express support to Serbia" at a time when it faces Kosovo's secession, Medvedev said. "We assume Serbia is a single state whose jurisdiction covers all of its territory. We will stick to this position."

Currently Russia's first deputy prime minister, Medvedev is expected to win a presidential election on Sunday. He was traveling with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, a signal that Russian support for Belgrade would continue after his election.

He said the February 17 declaration of independence by Kosovo's Albanian majority leaders had "destroyed the international system and international law that mankind has been building for more than one hundred years".

"The declaration of independence has complicated the situation in the region and in southern Europe," Medvedev said. "This decision will project on to other regions, where problems of status of separate territories are acute.

IN THE PIPELINE

As part of his visit, he signed an agreement with Belgrade to create a joint company to build the Serbian arm of the South Stream pipeline, a 10-billion-euro ($14.65-billion) project by Russia's Gazprom and Italy's ENI to bring gas to Europe.