Radio KiM from Caglavica on Aug. 18 publicized parts of a document titled Declaration of Independence of Certain Kosovo Municipalities, issued by a hitherto unknown organization, the Alliance of Municipalities of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija.

The appearance of this declaration, which states that municipalities populated by Serbs and other non-Albanians cannot be part of "the creation called the state of Kosovo," has been criticized by the Serbian Ministry for Kosovo and Metohija, as well as Kosovo Interior Minister Bajram Rexhepi.

Among other things, the declaration says the text refers exclusively to the independence of the territories and municipalities that are part of the said alliance from "the creation its makers have called the Republic of Kosovo."

The document adds that numerous crimes have been committed against Serbs in Kosovo and that the alleged statehood proclaimed in Pristina is based on genocide against non-Albanians. For the time being it is impossible to determine the origin of the document or come by any information on the organization to which it is attributed.

The Ministry for Kosovo and Metohija earlier condemned the appearance of "some sort of phantom declaration of independence by the Alliance of Municipalities of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija," because it is "the work of several irresponsible people."

The ministry urged the Kosovo Serbs not to fall for either the provocations by Pristina or the actions of groups and irresponsible individuals from the Serb community, who represent no one but themselves and their own interests.

"The Serbian government has a clearly defined policy on Kosovo and Metohija, which is well known to the Kosovo Serbs, and it will not abandon that policy. Anything that steps out of the boundaries of that policy and relevant state institutions is not in line with state policy, but is exclusively the work and opinion of irresponsible individuals," the ministry says in a news release.