French President Jacques Chirac on Monday called on Serbs and ethnic Albanians to hold negotiations over the status of Kosovo in a spirit of dialogue, Chirac's office said.

The president made the appeal when he and visiting Serbian President Boris Tadic held talks which were mainly devoted to the situation in Kosovo.

Kosovo's majority ethnic Albanians demand independence while Belgrade is only ready to authorize a large autonomy to the province where more than 90 percent of the population is Albanian. Direct negotiations are expected to begin in January to determine the final status of the province put under a UN trusteeship since 1999.

Chirac said that he hoped all parties would begin the negotiation in a spirit of dialogue and in respect for directive principles established by the United Nations Security Council, Chirac's spokesman Jerome Bonnafont said.

The French president said that the stakes are to organize the coexistence of cultures and peoples in the respect for legal interests of everyone.

Chirac reiterated the commitments of the international community and the European Union (EU) to help the reconciliation and noted that France would like to bring all its contribution to a peaceful and sustainable solution to the issue.

Tadic, considered as a pro-European reformer, is on a two-day official visit, his first trip to France after his taking office in June 2004.

(Xinhua News Agency December 20, 2005)