EU says Serb vote in northern Kosovo not the solution

(BRUSSELS) - The Serb referendum in northern Kosovo is not the solution to resolve differences in the breakway territory, the European Union said Tuesday, pushing for continued dialogue.

"We were saying all along that there is a particular situation in the north which needs a solution, but violence or barricades, or neither the referendum are the solution," Maja Kocijancic, an EU spokeswoman, told a news briefing.

"We will get to the solution only through consultations and through the dialogue," she said, noting that EU troubleshooter Robert Cooper was in Pristina to prepare a new round of talks between Serbs and Kosovans.

Serbs in northern Kosovo started voting Tuesday in a two-day referendum aimed at highlighting their opposition to Pristina and anger at concessions Belgrade has made in the EU-brokered talks.

However, the vote is purely symbolic and has no legal weight.

The north has been the scene of unrest in the last few months. In November some 50 soldiers from the NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping force were hurt as they moved to dismantle barricades erected at the border by Serbs.

The referendum comes just two days ahead of the fourth anniversary of Pristina's 2008 declaration of independence, which Belgrade has not recognised but has been accepted by 87 countries.