(Adds Security Council meeting on Kosovo, paragraphs 8-9) By Ivana Sekularac BELGRADE, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Serbia braced itself on Wednesday for the loss of Kosovo province, with its ally Russia apparently resigned to the territory's independence proclamation. Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica called on Serbs in Kosovo not to leave the breakaway province after its 90 percent ethnic Albanian majority declares independence. "Our people in Kosovo should stay in their homes, in their province, in their Serbia," he said. "For the Serbian government, every individual in Kosovo is considered an equal and rightful citizen of the state." The statement followed a call by a prominent Kosovo Serb urging Serbian leaders not to sow panic with hard-line rhetoric against independence, but to call on Serbs to stay in their homes, despite some fear of possible unrest. Kosovo Albanians are to declare independence from Serbia on Sunday, almost nine years after NATO bombs drove out Serb forces to halt a wave of killings and ethnic cleansing by Serb forces in a two-year war against separatist rebels. The major Western powers are expected to recognize the new state quickly, over the fierce objections of Serbia and its ally, Russia. The European Union and Russia failed to narrow their differences at talks in Slovenia, but Moscow said it did not plan sanctions against Kosovo or its supporters. The U.N. Security Council will hold an extraordinary session on Thursday to discuss Kosovo. Russia called the meeting at Serbia's request but said Moscow had little hope the council, which is deadlocked on Kosovo, can resolve the issue. "I do not feel great optimism about tomorrow's session," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference. Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic is expected to address the closed-door meeting of the council, diplomats said. NO SANCTIONS He repeated Moscow's view that secession would be a mistake but insisted that Russia would not impose any sanctions against the tiny, economically backward province, or against the EU. "Russia is not resorting to any punitive measures against anyone ... This suggestion sounds wild. We are sure that if there will be recognition... that will be a mistake," he said. Ninety percent of Kosovo's 2 million people are ethnic Albanians. Around 120,000 Serbs remain, half in scattered enclaves protected by NATO's 16,000-strong peace force, KFOR, which has stepped up security ahead of Sunday's proclamation. "We are intensifying our state of alert and activities to monitor the situation, using intelligence means, more patrols and greater visibility," said Colonel Bertrand Bonneau. In Belgrade, Serbian Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac said an escalation of violence might follow the declaration of independence. "Personally I don't believe it will happen, but we are ready for the worst possible scenario," he said. Kosovo's imminent secession has driven a wedge into Serbia's uneasy governing coalition, split over whether to pursue closer ties with the EU if the bloc takes over supervision of Kosovo in a 4-month transition from the United Nations. Taking a softer line than his coalition partner Kostunica, Serbian President Boris Tadic said late Tuesday that only in the EU could Serbia best defend its claim to Kosovo. "Serbia's place is in Europe," he said in a statement. "I will never give up the struggle for the interests of our people, nor the struggle for Kosovo." Opinion polls suggest 75 percent of Serbs are in favor of joining the EU. But that figure drops to 50 percent when asked if the country should join despite losing Kosovo. (Additional reporting by Marja Novak, Zoran Radosavljevic and Manca Ulcar in Brdo, Dmitry Solovyov in Moscow and Louis Charbonneau at the United Nations; Writing by Douglas Hamilton; editing by )
Homeless amputees whose limbs were amputated due to severe frostbite lie at a hospital in Bishkek, February 13, 2008. Extreme cold is no surprise to the 60 million people scattered across ...
