SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Serbia's foreign minister has denounced a move by Kosovo and Albania to boycott a regional conference, accusing them of wanting to create a joint state in the Balkans.

Kosovo, a former Serbian province, and Albania said they weren't attending the summit of southeastern European states that opened Monday in Sarajevo because Kosovo hasn't been invited as a sovereign country.

Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence has been recognized by most of the West, but not by Serbia and ally Russia.

Serb Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said that the boycott is part of a strategy by Albania and predominantly ethnic Albanian Kosovo to join their foreign policies and eventually create a "Greater Albania."

Creation of ethnically pure states in the Balkans is considered the biggest threat to peace in the volatile region.