Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vuk Jeremic handed over a demarche to the Austrian Ambassador to Belgrade yesterday on occasion of the statement by Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer that Austria will be among the first to recognise the independence of Kosovo-Metohija.
The Ministry says in a statement that Serbia strongly opposes such assertions and thinks that the negotiating process on the future status of Kosovo-Metohija should be continued under the auspices of the UN Security Council.
In the demarche Jeremic stressed the importance of preserving the territorial unity of the country and emphasised that such statements will cause a great deal of damage to the relations between Austria and Serbia, adds the statement.