Putin's heir backs Serbia in Kosovo dispute

0 Comments | AFP, February, 2008

BELGRADE (AFP) — Russia's likely next president, Dmitry Medvedev, vowed Monday to stick by Belgrade in its fight against Kosovo's Western-backed declaration of independence from Serbia one week ago.

The actions behind Kosovo's split "destroy the international security system, the international legal system, which mankind formed more than 100 years ago," Medvedev told reporters during a visit to the Serbian capital.

Medvedev, the Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Vladimir Putin's pick as his successor, is virtually assured of victory in presidential elections on Sunday.

"We noticed that the independence declaration by Kosovo truly complicated the situation in the region, in south-eastern Europe, and impacts on all other regions and countries" with territorial...