Serbia is holding an early general election on Sunday, and 300 polling stations will open in Kosovo, despite the declaration of independence in February.

The Serbs insist that Kosovo is still part of Serbia.

Polls show the elections are finely balanced between pro-European moderates led by President Boris Tadic who are committed to joining the EU and ultra nationalists who brand Kosovo's independence the culmination of a long international humiliation of Serbia since the end of the Balkan wars of the 1990s.

Serbia has insisted it will hold both local and parliamentary elections in Kosovo, with the municipal polls a direct challenge to United Nations administrators in Kosovo's capital Pristina.

The Kosovan government and the UN mission protest that only the UN has the right to organize local elections in Kosovo - and thus it will not recognise the results. But they have pledged not to stop the elections taking place.

Oliver Ivanovic, a Kosovo Serb moderate leader, contends that the future of Kosovo may be at stake, depending on which party wins Sunday's elections.

"If the democratic forces win these elections I'm quite sure that Serbia will be very soon after in the European Union. And like a full member of European Union, Serbia has much more possibility to protect its territorial integrity. But, if the Radical party wins these elections I think we are in very bad position, that the process of recognition will be suddenly speeded up and many countries will recognise Kosovo's independence later on."

The polling stations will open at 7am local time on Sunday in Kosovo territory.