Serbia's Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica announced his resignation on Saturday and called for new elections. Photo by images.google.com
Serbia's Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica announced his resignation on Saturday and called for new elections, BBC reported.
The decision follows his failure to get his cabinet to reject closer ties with the European Union in the wake of Kosovo's declaration of independence.
"The government of Serbia has no united policy any more on an important issue related to the future of the country - Kosovo as a part of Serbia," Kostunica told reporters as he announced his move in Belgrade.
"Such a government could not function any more," he added.
The outgoing prime minister said his party should return the mandate to the people and added that he had scheduled a cabinet meeting on 10 March to propose calling for early elections to be held on 11 May - the date for Serbia's local elections.
Kostunica has maintained that such relations could be strengthen only if the bloc does not recognize Kosovo's sovereignty.
The problem with the new-born country has also caused the split between Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) and its coalition partner, the Democratic Party (DS) of President Tadic.
Serbian President Boris Tadic says Belgrade will only be able to defend its right to Kosovo if it joins the EU.