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By Matt Robinson

PRISTINA, Serbia, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Albanians flooded the Kosovo capital Pristina on Saturday, celebrating the territory's independence from Serbia a day ahead of schedule.

Cavalcades of cars circled with horns blaring as thousands poured into the city waving the black and red Albanian flag. Fireworks lit up the night sky in a spontaneous celebration less than 24 hours before the secession.

Kosovo's parliament will declare independence on Sunday afternoon, almost nine years since NATO went to war to save the Albanians from killings and ethnic cleansing by Serb forces trying to crush a rebel insurgency.

It ends a long chapter in the bloody breakup of Yugoslavia.

In the north, French troops prepared concrete and razor-wire barriers to separate Serbs from Albanians in the flashpoint town of Mitrovica. Kosovo's 120,000 Serbs, backed by Belgrade, will reject the Albanian declaration, cementing a de facto partition in the north where half the Serbs live.

"The influence of Belgrade has ended," Prime Minister Hashim Thaci told Kosovo's public broadcaster. "The success of Kosovo's independence as a new beginning will be clearly measured by respect for the rights of minorities, especially Serbs."

The commander of NATO peacekeepers in Kosovo, French Lieutenant-General Xavier de Marnhac, said his troops "will react and oppose any provocation that may happen during these days, whether from the Albanian or the Serb side".

North of the River Ibar, Serbs held a day of prayer and protest to demonstrate they will never accept the secession of land where a 90 percent Albanian majority has struggled for its own state for almost two decades.

"Our message to you, all Serbs in Kosovo, is to remain in your homes and around your monasteries, regardless of what God allows or our enemies do," Bishop Artemije, the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo, told a service in Mitrovica.

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Pre-cast concrete sections three metres (10 feet) high and tall metal barriers wound with razor wire were lined up on the East Bridge over the river. Barricades were also ready on the main bridge to close both off quickly if clashes erupt.

The declaration will be made during a parliamentary session in the capital Pristina due to begin at 3.00 p.m. (1400 GMT), according to the schedule of events leaked to media on Saturday.

In Belgrade, 1,000 Serbs gathered with banners, flags and religious icons to protest against the loss of land many consider their religious heartland, steeped in history and the site of dozens of centuries-old Orthodox monasteries.

"We're ready to fight for Kosovo," said Ivan Ivanovic. "Kosovo will be returned to us, we'll never accept its independence." Notices in Serbian dailies called for more demonstrations against "this punishment and humiliation".

A day ahead of the proclamation, the European Union approved the launch of a 2,000-strong rule-of-law mission for Kosovo that will take over from the U.N. administration after a 120-day transition.

Serbia's uneasy coalition government is split over whether to reject ties with the EU over the bloc's backing for Kosovo.

Minister for Kosovo Slobodan Samardzic, an ally of nationalist Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, said Serbia would "have to question its ties" with the EU and states that recognise Kosovo's independence.

The United States and most EU members will recognise the new state, the last to be carved from Yugoslavia. They say Serbia relinquished the moral right to rule its people because of the brutality against them under the late Slobodan Milosevic. (Additional reporting by Fatos Bytyci and Ellie Tzortzi; writing by Douglas Hamilton, edited by Elizabeth Piper)

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