By Ellie Tzortzi

BELGRADE, July 24 (Reuters) - Serbia's main parties were expected to back a resolution on Tuesday pledging national unity in resisting independence for the breakaway province of Kosovo and a "tough stance" against any countries that recognise it.

The vote was sure to win a comfortable majority in a special session of the 250-seat parliament at the end of an evening of fiery speeches during a sweltering heatwave.

It was timed to go through a day ahead of a new round of Kosovo diplomacy by major powers in Vienna on Wednesday.

"This is the best moment for parliament to ... define Serbia's future policy in solving our most important national issue," Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica told parliament.

"Any states that want normal and friendly relations with Serbia must respect the U.N. charter, which guarantees that internationally recognised borders cannot be altered."

Ninety percent of the two million people who live in Kosovo are ethnic Albanians who demand independence. The province has been run by the United Nations since 1999, when 11 weeks of NATO bombing forced out Serbian troops who had killed and expelled Albanians in a two-year war with separatist guerrillas.

Kosovo Albanians refuse to go back to Serb rule. Serbia, which sees Kosovo as its religious heartland, rejects secession.

The United States and most European Union states support a U.N.-brokered plan offering the province independence under the supervision of a EU mission.

But they had to shelve efforts to pass a U.N. resolution to that effect last week because of opposition from Russia, an ally of Serbia which has for months blocked the process in the U.N. Security Council.

"LEGITIMATE INTERESTS OF ALBANIANS"

Belgrade's resolution says Serbia wants the new talks "to find the most favorable solution for Kosovo, having in mind its basic state interests (and) the legitimate interests of the Albanian national minority in the province ..."

However, it makes no mention of whether Kosovo Albanians would vote in Serbian elections, send deputies to parliament and participate in the government of a country, in which they would form a strong, 20 percent minority.

A lone voice against the resolution was the Liberal Democratic Party of Cedimir Jovanovic, which wants Serbia to accept that Kosovo was effectively lost eight years ago because of the brutal policies of late strongman Slobodan Milosevic.

The West sees no prospect of compromise between the Serbs and Albanians, and the idea of partitioning Kosovo remains a trial balloon, officially rejected by all sides.

Envoys of the big power Contact Group on Kosovo -- the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Russia -- were due to meet on Wednesday to discuss launching another 120 days of shuttle diplomacy between Belgrade and Pristina.

It is unclear whether the Contact Group would then make a decision, or return the issue to the Security Council.

Kostunica said "the withdrawal of the resolution in the Security Council represents an important Serbian victory, and was a result of the joint policy of Serbia and Russia".

"That victory has finalised the first phase of Kosovo's defence," he said, calling for new, open-ended talks that would find a compromise solution. He repeated his line that Albanians already had a state of their own -- in Albania.

Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders say they would prefer U.N.-sanctioned independence but are not prepared to wait forever. They count on the United States to be among the first to recognise a unilateral declaration of independence.

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