Serbian President Boris Tadić will miss the June 2 celebrations in Rome to mark the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy.
He said that decision came because Kosovo’s president, Atifeta Jahjaga, was invited.
Tadić says he “must and wishes to defend Serbia’s legitimate interests” with the new boycott.
The president added that “clearly, Italy’s institutions gave advantage to the presence of Kosovo’s representatives at the event”.
He said that he was disappointed that he would not be able to attend, and that the decision came “considering that the president of the so-called state of Kosovo was invited as well”.