BELGRADE, Serbia, March 13 (UPI) -- Serbia's divided National Assembly was dissolved Thursday by President Boris Tadic, who set May 11 as an early election date, local media reported.

The ruling coalition was unable to agree on how to deal with Kosovo's declaration of independence on Feb. 17 and its recognition by 18 members of the European Union, which Serbia hopes to join, CNN said.

"This is a new chance for us to reinforce the capacities for the defense of the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity ... and to change things for the better," Tadic said in a statement reported by the state-run Tanjug news agency.

In an interview with Spanish newspaper El Pais, Tadic reasserted his earlier claim Serbia wouldn't want to join a union whose majority had recognized the predominantly ethnic Albanian Kosovo.

"We are not going to relinquish Kosovo. We are going to utilize all of our diplomatic and political recourses in defense of this, but without violence," he said. "What's important is to find a compromise. If the Albanians are going to get everything and the Serbians are going to lose everything, there will be a problem."