Belgrade  - Serbia's latest slap came from the Nobel peace prize committee Friday, ending a week in which Belgrade declared a rare diplomatic triumph in its quest to keep Kosovo.

Only on Wednesday, Serbia hailed the UN General Assembly decision to back its campaign for an International Court of Justice (ICJ) opinion on Kosovo's declaration of independence.

Belgrade- The ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party (SRS), which won most votes in past three parliamentary polls but never returned to power since falling with Slobodan Milosevic, finally fell apart on Friday.

Acting chief of SRS over the past five years, Tomislav Nikolic, and its secretary general, Aleksandar Vucic, completed their defection by registering the new Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).

Belgrade - Belgrade has expelled the Montenegrin ambassador and is set to take the same step in relations with Macedonia in reaction to the two countries' recognition of Kosovo, reports said Friday.

Podgorica and Skopje recognized Kosovo, a territory Serbia still claims as its province, Thursday night, some eight months after it unilaterally declared independence.

Though it was certain to strain ties with Serbia, a major trade and economic partner, Montenegro and Macedonia jointly said they "remain committed to further promotion of ... relations with Serbia."

Montenegrin ambassador, Anka Vojvodic, was immediately told she had 48 hours to leave. "It is not a clever and political move," Vojvodic was quoted as saying.

Podgorica - Montenegro on Thursday formally recognized the independence of the breakaway Serbian province of Kosovo, Montenegrin Foreign Minister Milan Rochen reported in the capital Podgorica.

With the unanimous decision by the government, Montenegro became the 50th state to recognize the mostly ethnic Albanian republic.

The US, Japan and nearly all EU states have already recognized Kosovo's independence.

Montenegro and Serbia was part of a common state until two years ago when a referendum to split the two entities was implemented.

Belgrade - Serbian newspapers on Thursday announced a "great diplomatic victory" following a UN decision to seek an advisory legal opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence.

"Serbia's first diplomatic triumph in New York," "Great diplomatic victory" and "Serbia's win: Kosovo at the Court of Justice," mass- circulation dailies Blic and Vecernje Novosti trumpeted.

New York - Serbia on Wednesday asked the UN General Assembly to seek an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on the legality of Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence.

Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic told the 192-nation assembly that sending the request to the ICJ at The Hague would "prevent the Kosovo crisis from serving as a deeply problematic precedent in any part of the globe where secessionist ambitions are harboured."