A statement from Marovic's office said the new situation did not make it possible to organise completely the programme of Drnovsek's visit. Drnovsek was asked to understand "with the best intentions" the proposal that the November 2 visit be cancelled.
The state union's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Assistant Minister Miomir Udovicki today handed a protest note to the charge d'affaires at the Slovene Embassy in Belgrade, Jadranka Sturm Kocijan.
"Neither the state union of SCG nor the Republic of Serbia can or will accept, under any conditions, the proclamation of the independent state of Kosovo on its state territory and within its internationally recognised borders," read the note.
It recalled that "during the dramatic events in the former Yugoslavia" the international community took the position that international recognition could be given only to the federation's republics, without changes to their borders, but not to the autonomous provinces in Serbia -- Vojvodina and Kosovo. The note said this was also confirmed by the UN Security Council Resolution 1244 on Kosovo.
The SCG Foreign Ministry expressed regret that the unprincipled position towards the territorial integrity of Serbia and SCG threw an "unnecessary shadow on the traditionally friendly feelings between the peoples of SCG and Slovenia and the cooperation between the two countries".
Drnovsek said in Ljubljana yesterday that Kosovo's independence was the only real option, with guarantees for the position of Serbs and a special, possibly exterritorial status for Serb cultural monuments in Kosovo.