Pristina  - Kosovo officials on Friday granted Serbian president Boris Tadic permission for a "private visit" to Kosovo, government officials told the German Press Agency dpa.

The Serbian president will visit the Decani monastery in western Kosovo and spend Orthodox Good Friday there with monks and believers, Tadic's cabinet told Belgrade media. The cabinet said that Tadic had not formally requested a permit to enter Kosovo.

However, "Prime Minister Hashim Thaci decided to grant the entrance to the president of Serbia so that he could undertake a private visit to the Decani monastery for Orthodox Easter," Memli Krasniqi, spokesperson for the Kosovo government told dpa.

The decision was taken after the consultations with international partners, Krasniqi added.

Earlier, the EU representative in Kosovo Pieter Feith said that he recommended that the Kosovo officials to allow Tadic to visit Kosovo in order to "relax the ties" between Serbia and Kosovo.

Kosovo media reported that Tadic will be flown to Decani by helicopter due to security concerns. International forces in Kosovo could neither confirm nor deny the reports.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in February 2008 and was recognized by most of the EU and United States. Serbia bitterly opposes it and Tadic has repeatedly said that Belgrade will never recognize Kosovo and always consider it as its southern province. d pa fa kp.(dpa)