Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic

"It is more important what Kosovo Serbs think of going to the polls than what the Belgrade authorities think", Djindjic stressed in his interview with the Czech daily.

"If there are guarantees that Serbian municipalities will have self-government and that they will not be occupied by either ethnic Albanian civil organs or police, it will be a step towards participation in the elections", Djindjic said.

Czech President Vaclav Havel gave his support to Djindjic's concept of Serbian self-government in Kosovo.

The Serbian Prime Minister said he did not expect the Yugoslav Army to return to Kosovo in the near future since NATO wants to avoid direct contact. However, Djindjic said we can expect the formation of a multiethnic unit similar to the Kosovo Protection Corps.

Djindjic responded negatively to a question on whether the Belgrade authorities expected the US to intervene against terrorist strongholds in the Balkans as well.

"We can presume that active strongholds only exist in Kosovo and such actions would involve too much risk, since 50,000 NATO troops are currently deployed there", Djindjic said, noting that Yugoslavia was ready to aid the US struggle against terrorism by providing logistical support and intelligence on terrorists