President to boycott regional summit over Kosovo

Source: Danas

BELGRADE -- Serbian President Boris Tadić will not attend a summit of central and southeastern European leaders in Warsaw, Poland, because of Kosovo, said reports.

Belgrade-based daily Danas writes that the decision came "because Kosovo will be treated as an equal state".
Kosovo's ethnic Albanians unilaterally declared independence in early 2008, but Serbia rejected this as an illegal act of secession.
Now Tadić will miss the summit, scheduled for May 27 and 28, "where U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to be a special guest", noted the newspaper.
According to the report, Tadić will miss the gathering because Kosovo will not be represented "asymmetrically" in relation to other participants.
Such representation, a source from his cabinet said, "is necessary in gatherings on such a high level".
Everything the president does, the source asserted, is done "in line with the government's decision", as well as UN Security Council Resolution 1244.
Serbia will likely be joined in the boycott of the summit by Romania and Slovakia, two of the five EU countries from the region that have refused to recognize Kosovo.
Poland, on the other hand, which has done so, decided to invite Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga to the gathering.
The daily also notes that "the Warsaw summit was a chance for Tadić to have his first bilateral meeting with Obama".