U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has urged European allies not to put off what she called "tough decisions" on the final status of Serbia's breakaway Kosovo province.

Serbs vote this Sunday in Serbia in a presidential election seen to shape the Balkan state's future direction amid rising tensions over the status of Serbia's breakaway province of Kosovo.

Serbian President Boris Tadic says his country will do all in its power to maintain Kosovo as part of Serbia but will also continue efforts to build ties with the rest of Europe.

In Kosovo, the question is no longer if the province will declare independence, but when. In an interview with RFE/RL Pristina bureau chief Arbana Vidishiqi, Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu says no date has been fixed. But, he insists, "the process needs to come to an end as soon as possible."

Kosovo is ready to declare unilateral independence, but will coordinate its moves with the U.S. and the EU, the leader of the province's Democratic Party said on Friday.

International opinion on the future make-up of Kosovo is divided, but the US is already committed to the idea of independence of the Kosovo. Kosovo is seeking supervised independence from Serbia, which wants the region to remain autonomous within Serbia's borders.

Kosovo Albanian and Serb leaders failed to reach an agreement on Kosovo's status during three days of tense negotiations in an Austrian spa town, but pledged on Wednesday to refrain from violence.

Serbian President Boris Tadic says there is still room for compromise on the status of his country's breakaway Kosovo province if both sides make concessions.

A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Wednesday that if Kosovo unilaterally declared independence it would lead to a new escalation in the Balkans.

A party led by ex-guerrilla Hashim Thaci has won Kosovo's parliamentary election, according to unofficial results, and is set to lead it into a showdown with Serbia on the ethnic Albanian majority's demand for independence.

A Serb leader in Kosovo criticized the decision to boycott elections in the province. He said that it would make things worse for the beleaguered minority.

Serbia's predominantly Albanian province of Kosovo is holding parliamentary elections Saturday, amid the breakaway region's drive for officially recognized statehood.