Serbia has called on the United Nations to reject a Western-backed proposal for the independence of Kosovo.
President Boris Tadic made the appeal in Vienna at a final meeting after a year of talks between Serbs and Albanians and before the plan drafted by UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari goes to the Security Council.
In a copy of his speech distributed to media, Mr Tadic said he expected "serious debate" at the UN Security Council.
"If Ahtisaari's proposal was to be accepted, it would be the first time in contemporary history that territory would be taken away from a democratic, peaceful country in order to satisfy the aspirations of a particular ethnic group that already has its nation-state," he said.
"The sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia cannot be compromised."
Mr Ahtisaari wants to present the final document to UN headquarters by the end of March, eight years to the month since NATO bombed to wrest control of Kosovo from Serbia and halt the ethnic cleansing of Albanians.
Ten thousand Albanians died in Serbia's 1998-99 counter-insurgency war before the United Nations took control.
Today's meeting has been billed more as a prelude to the UN Security Council debate - which the West hopes will happen by June - than a last chance for agreement, something Mr Ahtisaari had written off weeks ago.