US warns against Kosovo partition

PRISTINA, Kosovo – A senior US official says Kosovo's partition along ethnic lines would plunge the Balkan region back into violence.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Philip Gordon says that redrawing borders as suggested by Serbia's senior officials would be "a recipe for disaster."

Gordon's remarks Thursday follow a statement made recently by Serbia's Deputy Prime Minister Ivica Dacic who said that Kosovo and Serbia could overcome their differences if the country's Serb-dominated north joins Serbia. Kosovo has refused to give up any of its territory.

Serbia rejects Kosovo's 2008 secession and backs institutions set up by the Serb minority in Kosovo that seek to undermine its statehood.