Wary over a free Kosovo
European nations with their own restive minorities are unlikely to recognize the province's claim of independence.
MADRID — With the province of Kosovo expected to declare independence from Serbia this weekend, it is increasingly unlikely that Europe will offer a united pledge of support, officials and diplomats across the region say.
There is unease in several countries over the precedent Kosovo's secession would set and over the ability of the corruption-plagued government in the ethnic Albanian province to rule.
The United States, the most fervent promoter of Kosovo's independence, has counted on backing from the European Union as a way to present a picture of broad support for the move. But several countries, especially those with their own restive ethnic minorities, have raised objections and indicated that they will not recognize a new Kosovo state, at least not immediately.
"Spain does not favor any unilateral declaration of independence," Spanish First Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega said Friday.
"For the government of Spain, the fundamental priority is a solution that respects international law and that guarantees regional stability."
Spain is confronted with numerous separatist movements, some violent, inside its borders. Basque nationalists who want their own country carved from part of northern Spain and southern France praised Kosovo, saying its anticipated declaration of independence showed "we are not talking about utopias." And an official from a pro-independence group in Catalonia, the region that includes Barcelona, said of Kosovo on Friday: "We are celebrating."
With similar worries regarding minority groups, Greece, Romania, Cyprus, Belgium, Bulgaria and Slovakia, from within the 27-member European Union, joined Spain in expressing reservations over Kosovo's secession.
"Raise your hand if you don't have a separatist in your house," Italy's leading daily, Corriere della Sera, wrote. "The domino effect is terrifying many central governments."
Despite the divergence of opinion, EU officials, meeting in Brussels on Friday, were nearing agreement on the formation and deployment of a 1,800-member police and judicial team for Kosovo. The team will replace the United Nations mission that has administered the province since North Atlantic Treaty Organization bombing drove out Serbian forces in 1999.
The EU effort will mark the formal end of the U.N.'s role. Russia, which, with Serbia, adamantly opposes the independence of Kosovo, has said it will regard the EU presence as illegal.
