By Matt Robinson PRISTINA, Serbia, July 3 (Reuters) - Kosovo will be "forced to move" without progress at the United Nations on independence from Serbia, Prime Minister Agim Ceku said on Tuesday, fuelling concern about a possible unilateral declaration. Ceku warned that the West risked losing credibility if it continued to stall in the face of Russian opposition to the territory's secession. "If this process is not working, the international community has to offer us another alternative," he said in an interview with Reuters. "We prefer the diplomatic route," he said. "But if we see no hope, no clarity, no certainty, no effort, then we will be forced to move." He would not be drawn on how long the Albanian majority province would wait. But his comments will fuel concern in the European Union that Kosovo is nearing a unilateral declaration of independence, a step that would shatter EU unity on the major remaining post-war question in the Balkans and potentially plunge the territory into chaos. Some EU members are nervous about the precedent Kosovo's independence might set, but are ready to go along for the sake of EU unity, provided they have the legal basis of a U.N. resolution on recognising Kosovo. Ceku acknowledged the Catch-22. "If we don't move, we risk losing credibility. If we move, we risk losing EU unity," he said. "We have to find a compromise. This process is losing credibility because of Russian obstruction, the international community is losing credibility." RUSSIAN OPPOSITION Russia, an ally of Serbia, has slammed the brakes on a U.N. Security Council resolution that would effectively guide Kosovo to statehood eight years after NATO wrested control of the province from Belgrade and the United Nations took over. Having been assured by the West of independence by mid-year, 2 million ethnic Albanians -- 90 percent of the population -- are running out of patience. Some 800,000 fled during Serbia's 1998-99 war against separatist guerrillas led by Ceku among others. Independent estimates put the civilian death toll at between 7,500 and 12,000, mostly Albanians. The West sees no prospect of returning Kosovo to Serb rule. NATO's 16,000 peacekeepers in the territory are concerned about possible unrest. But the EU is pushing the United States to hold more talks between Serbs and ethnic Albanians in the hope of winning over Moscow. Washington has indicated it would recognise a unilateral declaration of independence, but the EU would lose the legal basis to take over supervision of Kosovo from the United Nations and would see its fragile unity crumble. Ceku said Albanians would wait, provided they saw "concrete efforts" from the West to reach a solution. "If our partners, the EU and US, think this is the best way to go, we are very interested in doing this together. We will stay in the process," he said. "But independence is not negotiable."
