Serb president wants Kosovo and EU keys

(CNN) -- -- Serbia will not give up its claim on breakaway province Kosovo or its bid to become a member of the European Union, Serbian President Boris Tadic said in an interview published Thursday.

Kosovo declaration of independence sparked anger in Serbia, but picked up quick support from EU nations including Germany and the UK.

Serbia and Kosovo's minority Serb population considers the province the heart of the Serb nation, but the majority ethnic Albanians wanted independence from Belgrade.

The Associated Press reported Thursday that about 170 of the 800 Serb officers in the Kosovo police force have either quit or not shown up for work since the independence declaration.

Dozens more are threatening to leave, police officials told AP. The 7,000-strong force, which is considered one of the few successful examples of Serbs and ethnic Albanians working together.

Tadic told the Spanish newspaper El Pais: "We are not going to relinquish Kosovo. We are going to utilize all of our diplomatic and political recourses in defense of this, but without violence."

He added, "The people understand that we should be EU members, that this is in our national interest. We're not going to relinquish Kosovo or becoming EU members."

Kosovo's parliament declared the country's independence from Serbia on February 17, setting up a confrontation with Serbia and its longtime ally Russia, which demanded that the move be declared "null and void."

"What's important is to find a compromise," Tadic said in the newspaper interview. "If the Albanians are going to get everything and the Serbians are going to lose everything, there will be a problem."

Asked whether the compromise he envisioned would include partitioning Kosovo, Tadic said, "I'm not speaking of partition, but of compromise. ... We want a solution that is acceptable for both parties."

He added, "This is also in Europe's interest. Some of the countries that have illegally recognized Kosovo have committed a historic error."

The United States, Britain, and Germany have recognized Kosovo's declaration of independence; Spain, Russia, China and others have not.

Last week, thousands of Serbs in Belgrade demonstrated against Kosovo's declaration of independence and hundreds attacked Western embassies and shops.

Police there said they detained 192 people in the protests, and said 130 people were hurt in the violence. One protester died; his burned body was found in the U.S. Embassy complex.

Tadic said an investigation is looking into the attacks, and declined to comment on them extensively. But he said: "The violence was foreseeable, because the people were angry."

As far as the Serbia's EU membership prospects, Tadic appeared gloomy. "To be honest, I'll not expect that the EU is going to facilitate the process," he said. "There have been many promises, but not opportunities for Serbia."

Tadic, who was narrowly elected to a second term earlier this month, supports Serbia's eventual membership in the EU.

In late January, the EU offered Serbia a package of incentives as part of a deal to put it on the path toward membership, including closer political ties, a free trade agreement, visa liberalization, and cooperation in education.

Despite Tadic's re-election, the Serbian government blocked the February 7 signing of that package in an attempt to delay the independence of Kosovo, according to Mattias Sundholm, an EU spokesman based in Washington.

Despite widespread media reports indicating otherwise, Sundholm said the EU had not changed its stance on Serbia since the attacks on the embassies in Belgrade. E-mail to a friend

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