The resolution, sponsored by Serbia and the 27 EU member-states, welcomes the EU's readiness to facilitate the process of dialogue between the two sides, underlining that the process of dialogue would be a factor of peace, security and stability in the region.

Under the document, the purpose of the dialogue would be to promote cooperation, bring about progress on the road to the EU, and improve people's lives.

The session of the UN General Assembly was held up for two and a half hours and started at 2330 hours Central European Time, due to attempts by Russian and Serbian diplomats to remove Kosovo representatives from the hall, diplomatic sources at the UN said.

However, they were prevented from doing so by representatives of the United States, Great Britain and France, and Kosovo representatives took seats in the visitors' gallery before the start of the session.

In response to Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic's request to explain the presence of Kosovo representatives in the hall, the President of the UN General Assembly, Ali Abdussalam Treki of Libya, said indirectly that they were guests of the delegations of the United States, France, Germany and other Western countries, comparing their presence in the UN to that of Palestinians.

Jeremic briefly introduced the draft resolution on Kosovo, underlining that it was co-sponsored by the EU.

We hope that the resolution will help create an atmosphere conducive to the establishment of a comprehensive compact of peace between Serbs and Albanians, with the help of benevolent allies, Jeremic said, calling on UN countries to adopt the resolution by acclamation, which they did.

Jeremic also said that Serbia had not accepted and would not accept the unilateral declaration of Kosovo's independence, describing the resolution as a status-neutral document.

US representative Rosemary DiCarlo welcomed the unanimous adoption of the resolution, saying that it was in line with the strong support of the United States for Kosovo's independence and territorial integrity.

She said her country would support a constructive and forward-looking dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo, and help them integrate with the Euro-Atlantic community.

Support for the resolution was also expressed by representatives of Turkey, Brazil, Albania and other countries, while Serbia's position was supported by representatives of Azerbaijan and Venezuela and to some extent of Russia, with its representative Vitaly Churkin welcoming the consensus on the resolution.

In the new draft resolution on the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on Kosovo, Serbia has given up its plan to again challenge Kosovo's independence in the UN and tacitly accepted it, analysts say in their reports on the UN General Assembly's decision.

To avoid losing access to the EU, Serbia has given in to strong pressure from Brussels and the United States and abandoned formulations in the initial draft resolution, submitted on July 28, in which it minimised and challenged the ICJ ruling of July 22 which confirmed that Kosovo's decision to declare independence was in line with international law.

Serbia initially asked the UN to accept that the "unilateral secession is unacceptable", calling for reopening talks between Belgrade and Pristina on all outstanding issues.

The UN General Assembly mostly adopts resolutions by a majority vote. They are not binding on the member countries but they do carry significant political weight.