SERBIA / KOSOVO / EU : 08 April UPDATE: Belgrade Rejects EU/ Kosovo Deal; Serb Orthodox Church Calls Kosovo Partition 'Betrayal.'

   

      A day earlier than demanded...Belgrad/Beograd rejected the EU's demand for normalizing ties with Kosovo...over lack of safeguards for the region's Serbian minority.
      It also wants more time to negotiate.
     The decision came after the influential Serbian Orthodox Church added its opposition to the proposed independence of Kosovo from Serbia...long required for Serbia's admission to the EU.
     The Church called any partition...'a betrayal'...and a 'sell-out'...and its declaration muddies the emotional issue.
     Serbs consider Kosovo the cradle of Serbia and the Orthodox Church.
     But most of the region's current residents...are ethnic Albanians...and Muslims.
     Serbia lost control of Kosovo in 1999.
     The EU had set a Tuesday deadline...after the 8th round of talks broke-down last week.
     IST LINK CHANGE
   http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/08/us-serbia-kosovo-deal-idUSBRE9370FA20130408