BELGRADE, Serbia-Serbia's parliament is set to reject Kosovo's independence this week.

Lawmakers meeting from Wednesday are also to vote on a pre-membership accord with the European Union and an energy deal with Russia.

Serbia's deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic urged lawmakers to support the three documents and said the Kosovo resolution "represents Serbia's desire to join the EU together with its province of Kosovo."

The documents are expected to be approved as Serbia's new pro-EU government has a slight majority in Serbia's 250-seat assembly.

Kosovo broke away from Serbia in February and has been recognized by 42 nations, including the United States and 20 of the 27 members of the European Union.

Serbia, with strong Russian backing, remains opposed to Kosovo's split from Belgrade. It has vowed to block it from joining international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and its sister organization, the World Bank.

However, the IMF on Tuesday recognized that Kosovo has seceded from Serbia as a newly independent state and said its application for membership in the 185-nation lending organization "will be considered in due course."

The new Serbian document on Kosovo again rejects its independence and says that "Serbia will use all available legal, political and diplomatic tools" to keep Kosovo within its territory.

However, former Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia and his ultranationalist allies have said they will not back the new resolution because of its failure to mention the EU's mission in Kosovo. The EU mission is due to take over the administration of the province from the United Nations.

The nationalists say that the EU mission in Kosovo, known as EULEX, jeopardizes Serbia's claim over the territory, considered by the Serbs as the cradle of their state and religion.

The lawmakers are also to vote on ratifying a pre-membership trade-and-aid pact with the EU, to take effect when Belgrade arrests top Bosnian Serb fugitive Gen. Ratko Mladic.

Also to be approved at the parliament session that is expected to last until the end of this week is an energy deal with Russia's giant Gazprom that envisages the construction of a gas pipeline over Serbia's territory and the sale of its oil monopoly, NIS.