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KOSOVO: SERBIA EXPELS MACEDONIAN AMBASSADOR

(AGI) - Skopje, Oct. 10 - The day after Montenegro and Macedonia's recognition of an independent Kosovo, Serbia expels Aleksandar Vasilevski, Macedonia's ambassador in Belgrade, ordering him to leave the country as soon as possible. The announcement was made by a spokesperson for Foreign Affairs minister Petar Culev. A little earlier Serbian president Boris Tadic had harshly criticised the decision taken by the two former Yugoslav republics of recognising the declaration of independence made on February 17 by Albanian authorities in Pristina. Tadic defined it as "totally mistaken" and "against international law", adding that the move "will not contribute to the region's stability nor to relations between neighbours". He pointed out how, in light of the vote by which last Wednesday the UN General Assembly referred the matter to the International Court of Justice, there was "no good reason for our neighbouring Countries, which acted moderately until now, should suddenly decide to recognise a so-called independent Kosovo", whose secession Serbia had previously defined as "illegal". Tadic was especially displeased with his former allies in Montenegro, the last to abandon what remained of old Yugoslavia. "Taking such a step the government in Montenegro has placed our territorial integrity and sovereignty at risk, severely damaging the citizens of Montenegro and Serbia alike, who consequently have much in common. I am certain that the people of Montenegro disagree with the decision". Counting Podgorica and Skopje, there are now 50 States that formally recognised Pristina, including the USA and the majority of EU Member States. Belgrade still opposes the matter with the help of Russia, its traditional protector; Moscow's recent decision to recognise the independence of southern Ossetia and Abkhazia from Georgia has then again been viewed as retaliation for the same type of behaviour by western states over Kosovo.