Serb leader attacks Kosovo over visit conditions

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Serbian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Aleksandar Vucic on Tuesday abandoned plans to campaign among the minority Serbs in Kosovo, saying he was not prepared to abide by the conditions set by the Kosovo government.

In an interview with Serbian public broadcaster Vucic said he was not going to Kosovo before Sunday's election because he did not want to accept the "blackmail, pressure and circus from Pristina."

Kosovo Foreign Minister Enver Hoxhaj had earlier said that Vucic would be allowed to visit "as a sign of good will to international friends like Germany and the European Union."

Kosovo media reported that the government had specified that Vucic's visit could only last three hours and that he must not be accompanied by his interior or defense minister.

Pristina and Belgrade are holding EU-brokered talks to reconcile their differences. They have agreed to give each other advance notice of planned visits by their respective government representatives.

In January Pristina denied a request from Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic to visit Kosovo.

Tensions between the two countries have risen in the past four months following a series of incidents.

Last month the European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini twice convened both countries' presidents and prime ministers in Brussels.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Serbia has not recognized it as a separate country. Serbia, backed by Russia, has sought to maintain influence in Kosovo's north, where most of the country's Serb minority lives. Kosovo's Serbs can vote in the Serbian presidential election.

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Llazar Semini in Tirana, Albania, and Dusan Stojanovic in Belgrade, Serbia, contributed.