HANOI, Vietnam-Countries backing Kosovo's independence are setting a "dangerous precedent" that will lead to more world instability, a Serbian official said Tuesday.

Allowing Kosovo, which is predominantly ethnic Albanian, to break free from Serbia is no different than the international community endorsing Kurdish provinces in northern Iraq to declare independence, Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic told a group of Vietnamese students during a visit to Hanoi.

"If Kosovo does not get resolved ... the world will become much more unstable and far less predictable," he said, adding that the growing recognition of Kosovo's independence "sets a dangerous precedent for the international system."

Vietnam stands beside Serbia in its staunch belief that Kosovo's Feb. 17 declaration of independence was illegal under international law. Serbia considers Kosovo its historic and religious heartland. The province had been under U.N. control since 1999, when NATO launched an air war to stop a Serb crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists.

"I have asked that we examine the case of the Kurds in Iraq, who were even gassed by Saddam Hussein," Jeremic said. "I have asked, 'Why has the partition of Iraq not been imposed?'"

He also questioned why former Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic's brutal crackdown in Kosovo was viewed differently than atrocities committed elsewhere. Milosevic died two years ago while in detention at the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands. He was on trial on genocide charges for atrocities committed by Serb troops during the Balkan wars of the 1990s, including the conflict in Kosovo.

"I confronted my interlocutors with the atrocities that took place in Rwanda, or those taking place in Sudan, and asked why they have not advocated the partition of those countries," Jeremic said. "What was the line that Milosevic stepped over that the leaders of these countries did not?"

The U.S. and major European nations led the way in recognizing the new state soon after Kosovo's declaration, prompting protests by Serbs in Serbia and Kosovo.

Jeremic was wrapping up a two-day visit to Vietnam where he met with Vietnamese leaders to promote political and trade relations.