Kosovo independence 'almost inevitable': British FM

SALZBURG, Austria, March 10, 2006 (AFP) -

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Friday that Kosovo's movement towards independence is "almost inevitable," and said Serbia may have to accept that reality.

"We know about concerns by the Serbian government against possible independence," he said, when asked about opposition to calls for the majority ethnic Albanian Serb province, currently the subject of final status talks.

"But there is a reality which I'm afraid the Serbian population in the end may well have to accept which is that a big majority of people in Kosovo are likely to be in support of independence.

"Everybody accepts that the pre-1999 situation is unsustainable as a basis for the future. And if that is the case then a pathway towards independence becomes almost inevitable."