(dpa) - Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said on Wednesday that Serbia would annul any declaration of unilateral independence for its breakaway province of Kosovo, rejecting the creation of a "fake state" on Serbian territory.
Kostunica said the annulment will be of "historical importance, once and for all rejecting the existence of a fake state on its territory."
He also called on Serbs living in Kosovo, which is predominantly populated by ethnic Albanians, to stay put in "their homes, their province and their Serbia."
"All of our people in Kosovo are citizens with equal rights and it is our obligation to ensure normal living conditions for them," Kostunica said.
Serbia's government is expected to meet on Thursday in order to pass the annulment, with the Albanian leadership in Kosovo expected to declare unilateral independence from Serbia as soon as Sunday.
The Albanian declaration is expected to be recognized swiftly by the United States and the majority of the European Union, while Russia stands in Serbia's corner supporting its claims to sovereignty over the province.
The EU announced on Wednesday that it would deploy a 3,000-strong police and justice mission to Kosovo "within days" in order to begin implementing an internationally-supervised independence plan.
Serbia rejects the arrival of the mission as well, calling it a violation of international law and Serbia's territorial integrity.
Belgrade argues that the current United Nations resolution - which brought a UN administration and NATO peacekeepers to the province after inter-ethnic conflicts ended in 1999 - guarantees Serbia's sovereignty over Kosovo.
Therefore, according to Serbia, any decision to send administrative missions to Kosovo without the approval of the UN Security Council would violate international law and UN charters.
Russia has with its right to veto blocked the UN Security Council from approving Kosovo independence, demanding that the solution to Kosovo's status question be acceptable for both sides.
A good part of 2006 was spent in negotiations between Serbian and Albanian officials, which ended with both sides unwilling to compromise their stances on the issue.