UK to back Kosovo move at EU summit

Foreign Secretary David Miliband will attend a summit of European Union foreign ministers in Brussels, where the 27 member states will attempt to thrash out a common response to Kosovo's unilateral declaration.

While a majority of EU countries welcome the secession, opposition from countries including Spain, Romania and Greece is likely to block any unanimous act of recognition.

Instead, Mr Miliband is expected to join counterparts from France, Germany and several other EU countries in making separate statements recognising the new state in south-eastern Europe after the official summit has concluded.

Sunday's declaration - probably the final act in the disintegration of the old Yugoslavia - was greeted by enthusiastic celebration in Kosovan capital Pristina and in London, where ex-pat Kosovans waved their national flag in Trafalgar Square.

But the move is bitterly opposed by Serbia, which declared Kosovo an "inalienable" part of its territory, and by Russia.

Moscow's veto in the United Nations Security Council, which meets in New York on Tuesday, will stand in the way of general international acceptance of Kosovan independence for the foreseeable future.

European governments were urged on Sunday night to bury their differences and give formal recognition to an independent Kosovo in the interest of peace.

"The credibility of Europe is at stake both in terms of the role of EU peacekeepers in preventing violence, and of Europe's politicians in achieving unity in the face of certain severe diplomatic protest," said Labour Euro-MP Richard Howitt.

Kosovo is the sixth state to emerge in the region since 1991 - and although the move is welcomed in a majority of European capitals, it hugely complicates efforts to launch Serbia on the road to EU membership.