Resolving the status of Kosovo, which is expected this month to declare independence from Serbia, will be crucial for stability in the Balkans, Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha said on Wednesday.

“The final status of Kosovo is fundamental for peace and stability in the region,” Berisha told a news conference on a visit to Tokyo.

“Kosovo was the very heart of the Balkan crises. Kosovo is a unique case, unique in its history but also from a legal point of view,” he said.

Kosovo, while still technically part of Serbia, has been under UN administration since a 1999 NATO bombing campaign aimed at ending a bloody crackdown on separatists.

Serbs consider Kosovo to be the cradle of their civilisation even though the province’s people are overwhelmingly Albanian.

Clashes between Serbs and Albanians in the 1980s led to the rise of Serbian nationalist Slobodan Milosevic, under whose rule Yugoslavia broke apart in a series of bloody ethnic conflicts.

Calling for more action to avert ethnic strife, Berisha said the conflicts in the Balkans were “more a clash between the backwards and the advanced than a clash between religions.”

Serbians on Sunday narrowly re-elected President Boris Tadic, who supports cooperation with Western nations, despite strong opposition in Serbia to Kosovo formally breaking away.

Russia, which has strong cultural links with Serbia, has also warned against Kosovo declaring independence without the agreement of Belgrade.

Berisha said that Albania supported Kosovo’s independence but reiterated that it had no designs on the province.

“Albania will recognise Kosovo but in coordination with the European Union and the United States,” he said.

“It is the best interest of Serbia, Albania and all existing countries there to stick to existing international borders,” he said.

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