Kosovo's declaration of independence is a matter of days away, the Serbian province's Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said today.
'It is an issue of days,' Mr Thaci saidin Brussels when asked whether the expected independence proclamation was days or weeks away.
However several European diplomats suggested Kosovo's largely ethnic Albanian population would have to wait another month or so before the declaration.
'Kosovo is ready. we will proclaim independence very soon,' Mr Thaci declared after meeting with EU foreign affairs chief Javier Solana.
While some 'procedures' would need to be respected before the proclamation could be made, everything was ready, including a national constitution and symbols, he said.
Mr Thaci said Kosovo was not planning the action unilaterally. Independence would be declared 'in coordination with the European Union and the United States,' he stressed.
The United States and the European Union, as well as Kosovo, were keen to present a 'coordinated declaration of independence' rather than a totally unilateral move on the part of the breakaway Serb province.
The move has the support of the EU's 27 member states, but Belgrade, backed by Russia, is firmly opposed to giving independence to a region it regards as an historic Serbian heartland.
The issue is complicated by Serbia's ongoing presidential election which pits hardline nationalist Tomislav Nikolic against pro-European incumbent Boris Tadic in a decisive second-round run-off on 3 February.
