Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has called on Serbs to live in peace with their Albanian neighbors as he began his official visit to Kosovo. His call came on Wednesday after he attended the opening ceremony of a maternity hospital in Pasjane municipality, east of the capital Pristina, where many Serbs live.

Vucic said: "We want to live in peace with our Albanian neighbors. Peace will benefit both sides." "We do not have to say a word about them, it is enough for us to focus on our own work and common future." He went on: "We will live in the same territory together again for the next hundred years. We need to act nonchalant."

"Kosovo is the cradle of Serbia. Serbia must help Kosovo Serbs to remain here," he added, and called on Serbs not to sell their homes.

'Good future'

His visit marked the first by a Serbian prime minister to Pasjane, Strpce and the district of Kosovo-Pomoravlje. Vucic added: "Nevertheless, we want to protect our homes, ourselves to build a good future for our children. That's why we are here today."

"What a coincidence that, in Kosovo - in our region where were at the moment - many Serb children are being born."

"Serbia always knows how to defend itself, but has also achieved maximum development in peaceful times," he said.

Kosovo Serbs are the second-largest ethnic group in Kosovo. Kosovo was the cultural, diplomatic and religious core of the Serbian Kingdom during the 14th Century Serbian Empire.