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Serbian FM to visit Moscow June 5-7

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MOSCOW, June 4 (RIA Novosti) - The foreign ministers of Serbia and Russia plan to discuss enhancing bilateral political dialogue in Moscow during Vuk Jeremic's visit starting Tuesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

It will be the first visit by the Serbian minister outside of the Balkans following the formation of a new Cabinet in Belgrade May 15.

"The Serbian foreign minister's visit, scheduled for June 5 through 7, is seen as the continuation of regular Russian-Serbian political dialogue," Mikhail Kamynin said.

The spokesman said Sergei Lavrov and Vuk Jeremic would exchange opinions concerning the most urgent issues on the international agenda, bilateral political issues, improving trade and economic cooperation, and boosting interaction in culture, education, science, and sports.

Kamynin said the status of Serbia's separatist region of Kosovo would be top of the agenda.

Kosovo, which has a population of two million, has been a UN protectorate since NATO's 78-day bombing campaign against the former Yugoslavia ended a war between Serb forces and Muslim Albanian separatists in 1999.

While the Albanians have since demanded full independence, the sizeable Orthodox Serb minority has complained that their lives and religious sites would be at risk under the proposed setup.

The United States and the European Union have been pressing to grant sovereignty to the region, a proposal which has met with strong opposition from Serbia and Russia.

Russia's position is that the solution should be based on a compromise between Kosovo and Belgrade and compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 1244.

Adopted in 1999, Resolution 1244 determined to resolve the grave humanitarian situation in Kosovo and to provide for the safe and free return of all refugees and displaced persons to their homes, a requirement still far from being fulfilled.

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