Serbian Rightists To Protest on Kosovo Independence Day

Several right-wing movements in Serbia, such as Serbian Action, Identity Generation and Cultural Club Lighthouse, have announced a "March for Serbian Kosovo" on February 17, the tenth anniversary of Kosovo's independence.

Serbian nationalists fiercely oppose the independence of the mainly ethnic Albanian former province, which many of them call the "cradle" of the Serbian nation.

"On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the illegal proclamation of the so-called independence of Kosovo and Metohija, patriots from Serbian Action, Identity Generation and the Cultural Club Svetionik [Lighthouse] will organize a 'March for Serbian Kosovo,'" they announced on Facebook.

Kosovo proclaimed independence from Serbia in 2008, having de facto broken away in 1999 as a result of NATO's air war on Serbia.

Most Western countries, including the US, recognised Kosovo as a state long ago, but five EU states - Spain, Greece, Slovakia, Romania and Cyprus - do not. Serbia also enjoys strong support from Russia and China over the Kosovo issue.

Formally, Kosovo has been free of international oversight since the International Civilian Office, the body responsible for overseeing independence, left in 2012. The EU's rule-of-law mission, EULEX, remains in place, though with reduced powers.

While the independence of Kosovo is strongly opposed by the Serbian government, it is denied still more vehemently by the nationalist right.

The official announcement of the "March for Kosovo" said the gathering will start at 5pm in front of St Mark's church in Belgrade.

Serbian Action is well known to the public and was involved in Sunday's controversial commemoration of Milan Nedic.

Nedic headed Serbia's puppet government...