Serbia's Tadic Celebrates Xmas in Kosovo

Serbia's president Boris Tadic has spent the night in the Orthodox monastery of Visoki Decani in Kosovo after attending midnight mass on Wednesday, notwithstanding protests from local Albanians angered by his visit.

Tadic will also attend the Holy Liturgy on Thursday, making Christmas Day, which Orthodox Serbs celebrate according to the Julian calendar.  

Tadic was flown into the medieval monastery by a NATO helicopter, amid tight security, where he spent the night with monks and locals.

He said his visit was a call for peace "to all people that share this difficult and complex area of the Balkans", but made clear that he considers Kosovo to be a part of Serbia.

He said Belgrade would like to see Kosovo join the EU alongside, but as part of Serbia.

"I would like to see not only Serbia -- which means Kosovo -- in the European Union, but all southeast countries, to be integrated in the European Union as soon as possible, I hope in 2014," Tadic told journalists.

His visit, the second since Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in February 2007, has been marred in controversy, with many Albanians angry at their government for granting the visit to a statesman who refuses to recognise their country’s sovereignty.

About 100 ethnic Albanians protested his visit, marching toward the 14-century monastery waving Albanian flags, chanting anti-Serb slogans and shouting out the name of the now-disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army. NATO peacekeepers kept the protesters away from the monastery.

Earlier this week, Kosovo’s leadership said it had agreed to the visit on the condition that Tadic does not make any political speeches.

Later, the spokesman for Kosovo's President Xhavit Beqiri said that Tadic's visit was counterproductive.

Tadic said he intends to come back to the monastery every year, noting its historical and cultural importance to Serbs. "I will come to this place every year. Our monastery represents a guarantee of our identity. ... Our sacred places and monuments in the territory of our Kosovo are fundamental for the preservation of our identity," he said.