Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said on Monday that Belgrade would soon present a specific proposal on Kosovo's final status in line with European standards, but he suggested that his government would reject outright autonomy for the UN-run province.

In talks with US envoy Frank Wiesner, Kostunica said the solution for Kosovo would be a compromise and that "all forms of extreme solutions have to be left behind."

Kostunica stressed that Serbia would not accept the imposition of a solution on a democratic country, nor would it accept the seizure of part of its internationally recognized territory, as it would constitute a dangerous precedent.

Wiesner arrived in Belgrade on Monday after visiting Kosovo. The US envoy on Friday urged a final solution to be produced by the end of this year. The US-brokered talks on Kosovo's future status started in February, with the fourth-round expected to resume on May 4 in Vienna.

Kosovo remains legally part of Serbia, although it has been run by the United Nations since NATO bombing forced out Serbian forces in 1999.

Kosovo's ethnic Albanians, who constitute 90 percent of its 2 million population, want outright independence. However, Serbian leaders insist on maintaining at least nominal sovereignty over Kosovo, and want the province's minority Serbs to have more autonomy.

Former Serbian administration officials were being prosecuted for suspected war crimes at The Hague's International Tribunal. Defendants have included former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, who died in his cell on March 11 during his trial.

(Xinhua News Agency April 18, 2006)