Kosovo leader expects independence by summer 

The prime minister of Kosovo, Bajram Kosumi, has expressed his conviction that the province will gain independence from Serbia by the middle of this year. "For us it is important that in June 2006 we should make Kosovo a state. I am convinced that we shall do that," Kosumi told the Albanian daily Tema. 

The leaders of Kosovo, which has a majority Albanian population, have long been insisting on full independence, while Serbia aims to give broad autonomy but refuses to give up sovereignty. Kosovo is set to open UN-mediated talks this year on its future political status, and Kosumi has earlier said that ethnic Albanians would not negotiate directly with Serbian officials about that. In his opinion, "the existing processes are not in favour of creating ethnic states".

Serbian President Boris Tadic has recently reiterated that he will not sign independence or any other "imposed solution" on Kosovo. "As far as I am concerned, I will never sign any decision granting independence to Kosovo," Tadic has told the daily Glas.

Kosovo has been administered by the UN since the middle of 1999, when NATO forces expelled Serbian troops from the province.

Meanwhile, the EU's envoy Miroslav Lajcak has urged rival camps in Montenegro to reach an early agreement on the rules for an independence referendum. The Adriatic republic of Montenegro remains deeply divided over whether it should seek independence from Serbia or should instead maintain the state union. A referendum on the issue is expected to be held in Montenegro in April.