Serbian president Tadic vows to preserve Kosovo

By Douglas Hamilton

BELGRADE (Reuters) - Boris Tadic was sworn in as president of Serbia on Friday, two days before Kosovo declares independence in Serbia's most traumatic moment since it was bombed by NATO in 1999 to end ethnic cleansing in the province.

"I will never give up fighting for our Kosovo and I will, with all my might, fight for Serbia to join the European Union," Tadic said after taking the oath of office.

Kosovo, a mountain-ringed province, is steeped in Serb myth but now home to 2 million Albanians, a 90 percent majority.

Nationalist Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, who has eclipsed pro-Western Tadic to become undisputed champion of Serbia's unity, has told Serbs that Kosovo's breakaway is "about to become a reality" that he cannot stop but will never accept.

Most EU members plus the United States plan to recognise Kosovo. They say Serbia relinquished the moral right to rule its people because of the brutality it used against them in 1998-99 under the late Slobodan Milosevic, and because there is no hope of compromise.

Tadic and Kostunica are at odds over Serbia continuing to pursue EU membership if EU states approve Kosovo's secession.

Serbia and its ally Russia insist the legal rights of sovereignty and territorial integrity are more important than an ethnic minority's demands for self-determination.

Serbia has offered autonomy to Kosovo Albanians within Serb borders, but no role as full citizens. The West believes this formula is unsustainable in the long term.