Boris Tadic

Serbian President Boris Tadic meets Wednesday with U.S. National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley to explain why Serbia opposes independence for Kosovo.

Before leaving for Washington Tuesday, Mr. Tadic said granting the Serbian province independence would threaten the security and stability of the entire Balkans. He also blamed Serbia's disastrous policies in the 1990s for the current Kosovo situation.

Mr. Tadic is meeting with influential U.S. lawmakers including Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid before the talks with Hadley.

Mr. Tadic is to meet Thursday with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice before talks with Vice President Dick Cheney.

United Nations-mediated talks between Serbian and Kosovo Albanian representatives on the future of the province have achieved no major progress.

Kosovo's majority ethnic Albanians seek independence. Serbia insists on maintaining control over the province.

The Serbian province has been under U.N. administration since 1999, when NATO airstrikes in response to the Kosovo crisis drove Serbian and Yugoslav security forces from the province.