EU dismisses Serb autonomy in Kosovo

PRISTINA, Kosovo, March 3 (UPI) -- A top EU official Monday discounted the possibility of Serbs gaining any sort of autonomy in newly independent Kosovo.

Pieter Feith, the European Union's representative in Kosovo, said that no plans are under discussion that would carve out a canton or grant any other autonomy to Serbs living in the north of Kosovo.

"It is quite clear that the privileged relations between the Serbs here (in Kosovo) and Belgrade are in the spheres of education, healthcare and religious objects," Feith told the Pristina, Kosovo, daily Koha Ditore. "Those relations have to be transparent and the government in Pristina has to be respected."

Feith is in Kosovo for talks with the international steering committee on Kosovo, which will largely deal with Serbian economic aid for their former countrymen living in Kosovo.

Blic reported that the Serbian government dismissed Feith's remarks as non-binding and maintained that EU has no legal standing in the Kosovo dispute.