Offer of Swift Serbian Entry Into Eu If It Lets Kosovo Break Away

European leaders are prepared to offer Serbia "accelerated" membership of the EU as a carrot for accepting the independence of Kosovo, it was reported today.

The EU summit in Brussels today is expected to devote at least two hours to wrangling over a declaration of independence, which could be issued by the ethnic Albanian leadership within weeks.

A plan drafted this year by the Finnish UN envoy, Martti Ahtisaari, called for an 1,800-strong EU nation-building mission to implement independence but it has been rejected by Serbia, effectively vetoed by Russia, and there are also concerns within the EU.

European leaders plan to issue a statement urging Belgrade to give high priority to meeting conditions so that "progress on the road towards the EU ... can be accelerated", reported the Associated Press.

Diplomats told AP that some EU member states interpreted the statement as an offer for fast-track EU membership for Serbia but without setting a date.

EU leaders will declare that the status quo in Kosovo "is unsustainable", and the statement urges the UN, Serbian and Kosovan leaders to find a solution and refrain from violence.

Meanwhile, the EU's largest four member states are pushing to impose and oversee independence in Kosovo without a fresh UN mandate.

In a letter to European leaders at today's summit, David Miliband, the foreign secretary, and his counterparts from Germany, France and Italy, have demanded that the 27 EU governments "send a clear message on Kosovo" by agreeing to dispatch the EU nation-building mission.

The letter, obtained by the Guardian, despaired of Russia assenting to the plan by backing a new mandate at the UN security council. It called on the EU to proceed on the basis of the security council resolution governing the UN protectorate in Kosovo after Nato drove out Serbian forces there in 1999.

Preparations for the EU mission to Kosovo, replacing the UN, are far advanced within the office of Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy coordinator.

EU officials say the mission could be dispatched "tomorrow" if a green light were given. But the 27 member states remain split over Kosovo despite months of trying to reach consensus.

The EU's big four, who along with the US and Russia comprise the "contact group" that sets international policy on the Balkans, will be the first, along with the Americans, to recognize Kosovo statehood after its ethnic Albanian leadership declares independence.

The letter, which is addressed to the Portuguese government, asked today's summit to pave the way for imposing independence early next year by declaring that: talks between Serbia and Kosovo finished; Kosovo's status has to be decided "urgently"; and the EU would play a "leading role in implementing a settlement".

There are to be further talks at the security council next week, with Moscow and Belgrade demanding more time for talks between Serbian and ethnic Albanian leaderships.

However, foreign ministers of the EU's big four, said: "We need to be realistic about the slim prospects of securing the necessary level of consensus in the security council."

Several EU states, notably Cyprus, Greece, and Slovakia, remain opposed to recognizing an independent Kosovo without Serbia's agreement.

Other countries, such as the Netherlands, are worried about the international legal basis for the plan outlined by the four governments. A meeting of EU ambassadors last week in Brussels showed a consensus behind the plan of only around 16 out of 27, sources said.

There is general agreement that the EU mission could be deployed on the basis of security council resolution 1244, which set the terms for Kosovo at the end of the Nato-Serbia war in 1999. Although the Serbs have not controlled Kosovo since, the resolution acknowledged Belgrade's sovereignty.

Speaking of the EU plan, Sir John Sawers, the British ambassador to the UN in New York, said. "I don't think the security council ... will be able to reach agreement on the way forward, in which case other organizations will have to take the responsibilities."