US 'absolutely opposed' to partitioning Kosovo

Washington: The Bush administration notified Serbia on Thursday it was "absolutely opposed" to any attempt to partition Kosovo so that the Serbian minority could have its own homeland.

Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said, "We will not support any form of partition," adding, "the great majority of countries would not stand for that."

Kosovo, which has declared independence with strong US support and over the anger of Belgrade, has a majority ethnic Albanian population.

In Belgrade on Wednesday, Serbia's Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica demanded that the United States reverse its recognition of Kosovo. Russia also is strongly opposed to an independent Kosovo.

He said, "As a nation and a state, we will put up resistance every day until the United States is convinced that the rule of international law must be re-established in the Balkans and the illegal declaration of the fake state (of Kosovo) is annulled."