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Kosovo Declares Its Independence From Serbia
By DAN BILEFSKY
Published: February 18, 2008
PRISTINA, Kosovo — The former Serbian province of Kosovo declared independence on Sunday, sending tens of thousands of euphoric ethnic Albanians into the streets of this war-torn capital to celebrate the end of a long and bloody struggle for national self-determination.
The declaration marks the final dismemberment in the 17-year dissolution of the former Yugoslavia. It also brings to a dramatic climax a showdown between the West — which argues that the former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic’s brutal subjugation of Kosovo’s majority ethnic Albanians cost Serbia its authority to rule the territory — and Belgrade and its ally Moscow, which counter that Kosovo’s independence declaration is a reckless breach of international law that will spur other secessionist movements across the world.
Ethnic Albanians from across the world streamed into Pristina, braving freezing temperatures and heavy snow, to dance in frenzied jubilation. Beating drums and waiving Albanian flags, they chanted “Independence! Independence! We are free at last!” while an enormous birthday cake was installed on Pristina’s main boulevard.
An outpouring of adulation for the United States — Kosovo’s staunchest ally in its quest for independence and the architect of NATO’s 1999 bombing campaign against Mr. Milosevic — was evident everywhere. Thousands of revelers unfurled giant American flags, carried posters of former President Bill Clinton, and chanted “Thank You U.S.A.!” and “God Bless America.”
In reading Kosovo’s declaration of independence, its newly elected prime minister, the former guerrilla leader Hashim Thaci, struck a note of reconciliation. He addressed Parliament in both Albanian and Serbian, pledging to protect the rights of the Serbian minority while reaching out to Serbia.
“I feel the heartbeat of our ancestors,” he said, paying tribute to Kosovo’s war dead and to the European Union and Washington. ”We the leaders of our people, democratically elected, through this declaration proclaim Kosovo an independent and sovereign state.” He promised to protect the rights of all the people of Kosovo.
In Belgrade, which has regarded Kosovo as its heartland since medieval times, Serbia’s prime minister, the nationalist Vojislav Kostunica, vowed that Serbia would never recognize the “false state.” He said Kosovo was propped up unlawfully by the United States and called the declaration a “humiliation” for the European Union.
His government has ruled out using military force to respond, but was expected to downgrade diplomatic ties with any government that recognized Kosovo.
The United States and its European allies issued statements noting the declaration of independence but stopped short of diplomatic recognition on Sunday.
“The United States is now reviewing this issue and discussing the matter with its European partners,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in a statement Sunday morning. Noting that the United States would continue to support the rights of all ethnic and religious communities in Kosovo, Mr. McCormack said the United States “calls on all parties to exercise the utmost restraint and to refrain from any provocative acts.”
European Union officials said that Britain, France and Germany were expected to recognize Kosovo’s independence within 48 hours. The Security Council was expected to meet on Sunday.
Germany, with close to 2,400 troops on the ground in the infant nation, is the largest contributor to the NATO deployment in the former Serbian province. According to the German Foreign Ministry, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, spoke by phone Sunday with the Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic, and Mr. Jeremic agreed that ensuring the stability of the region was the “highest priority.”
Ulrich Wilhelm, the spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, said in a statement, “The last open question of the breakup of Yugoslavia must be answered now, because it impedes the security, stability and economic development of the entire region.”
He pointed out, however, that the foreign ministers of the European Union nations would meet Monday to discuss Kosovo’s declaration and that the government of Germany, the European Union’s largest member, would “on the basis of this consultation, decide on further steps.”
President Bush, speaking Sunday in Tanzania on a tour of Africa, said the United States would continue to work to prevent violence in Kosovo in the wake of the proclamation, while reaching out to Serbia. Kosovo’s independence comes nearly 10 years after Slobodan Milosevic’s violent suppression of the province’s ethnic Albanians prompted NATO to intervene in a 1999 bombing campaign that saw hundreds of thousands Albanians and Serbs flee. An estimated 10,000 civilians were killed in the 1998-99 conflict, many of them Albanians, while 1,500 Serbs were killed in the revenge killings that followed. Another 2,000 people went missing and were never found.
Kosovo — a poor, landlocked, predominantly Muslim territory of two million — has since been under the protection of the United Nations and policed by 16,000 NATO troops who keep a fragile peace.
For the ethnic Albanians, who make up 95 per cent of the territory, independence marks a new beginning after decades of political repression and war.
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I'm not overly familiar with the current political atmosphere in Serbia. I'm just wondering if this'll mean war.
By DAN BILEFSKY
Published: February 18, 2008
PRISTINA, Kosovo — The former Serbian province of Kosovo declared independence on Sunday, sending tens of thousands of euphoric ethnic Albanians into the streets of this war-torn capital to celebrate the end of a long and bloody struggle for national self-determination.
The declaration marks the final dismemberment in the 17-year dissolution of the former Yugoslavia. It also brings to a dramatic climax a showdown between the West — which argues that the former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic’s brutal subjugation of Kosovo’s majority ethnic Albanians cost Serbia its authority to rule the territory — and Belgrade and its ally Moscow, which counter that Kosovo’s independence declaration is a reckless breach of international law that will spur other secessionist movements across the world.
Ethnic Albanians from across the world streamed into Pristina, braving freezing temperatures and heavy snow, to dance in frenzied jubilation. Beating drums and waiving Albanian flags, they chanted “Independence! Independence! We are free at last!” while an enormous birthday cake was installed on Pristina’s main boulevard.
An outpouring of adulation for the United States — Kosovo’s staunchest ally in its quest for independence and the architect of NATO’s 1999 bombing campaign against Mr. Milosevic — was evident everywhere. Thousands of revelers unfurled giant American flags, carried posters of former President Bill Clinton, and chanted “Thank You U.S.A.!” and “God Bless America.”
In reading Kosovo’s declaration of independence, its newly elected prime minister, the former guerrilla leader Hashim Thaci, struck a note of reconciliation. He addressed Parliament in both Albanian and Serbian, pledging to protect the rights of the Serbian minority while reaching out to Serbia.
“I feel the heartbeat of our ancestors,” he said, paying tribute to Kosovo’s war dead and to the European Union and Washington. ”We the leaders of our people, democratically elected, through this declaration proclaim Kosovo an independent and sovereign state.” He promised to protect the rights of all the people of Kosovo.
In Belgrade, which has regarded Kosovo as its heartland since medieval times, Serbia’s prime minister, the nationalist Vojislav Kostunica, vowed that Serbia would never recognize the “false state.” He said Kosovo was propped up unlawfully by the United States and called the declaration a “humiliation” for the European Union.
His government has ruled out using military force to respond, but was expected to downgrade diplomatic ties with any government that recognized Kosovo.
The United States and its European allies issued statements noting the declaration of independence but stopped short of diplomatic recognition on Sunday.
“The United States is now reviewing this issue and discussing the matter with its European partners,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in a statement Sunday morning. Noting that the United States would continue to support the rights of all ethnic and religious communities in Kosovo, Mr. McCormack said the United States “calls on all parties to exercise the utmost restraint and to refrain from any provocative acts.”
European Union officials said that Britain, France and Germany were expected to recognize Kosovo’s independence within 48 hours. The Security Council was expected to meet on Sunday.
Germany, with close to 2,400 troops on the ground in the infant nation, is the largest contributor to the NATO deployment in the former Serbian province. According to the German Foreign Ministry, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, spoke by phone Sunday with the Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic, and Mr. Jeremic agreed that ensuring the stability of the region was the “highest priority.”
Ulrich Wilhelm, the spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, said in a statement, “The last open question of the breakup of Yugoslavia must be answered now, because it impedes the security, stability and economic development of the entire region.”
He pointed out, however, that the foreign ministers of the European Union nations would meet Monday to discuss Kosovo’s declaration and that the government of Germany, the European Union’s largest member, would “on the basis of this consultation, decide on further steps.”
President Bush, speaking Sunday in Tanzania on a tour of Africa, said the United States would continue to work to prevent violence in Kosovo in the wake of the proclamation, while reaching out to Serbia. Kosovo’s independence comes nearly 10 years after Slobodan Milosevic’s violent suppression of the province’s ethnic Albanians prompted NATO to intervene in a 1999 bombing campaign that saw hundreds of thousands Albanians and Serbs flee. An estimated 10,000 civilians were killed in the 1998-99 conflict, many of them Albanians, while 1,500 Serbs were killed in the revenge killings that followed. Another 2,000 people went missing and were never found.
Kosovo — a poor, landlocked, predominantly Muslim territory of two million — has since been under the protection of the United Nations and policed by 16,000 NATO troops who keep a fragile peace.
For the ethnic Albanians, who make up 95 per cent of the territory, independence marks a new beginning after decades of political repression and war.
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I'm not overly familiar with the current political atmosphere in Serbia. I'm just wondering if this'll mean war.
