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Kosovo declares independence
17/02/2008 17:29 - (SA)
Pristina - Kosovo on Sunday declared its independence from an angry and anxious Serbia in the final fallout from the conflict-strewn break-up of the former Yugoslavia.
Tens of thousands of flag-waving people packed the capital, Pristina, as the Kosovo parliament voted a declaration of independence which insisted that the world's newest state would be "dedicated to peace and stability".
The parliament also approved a new flag for the landlocked state of about two million people.
While the United States and European Union are expected to quickly recognise the new state, Serbia is infuriated by the move and has been given strong support by Russia.
Serbia's President Boris Tadic said his country would never accept the move.
Kosovo police had to stop several hundred former Serbian army reservists - veterans of the 1998-'99 Kosovo war - from crossing into the territory ahead of the independence declaration.
The group, dressed in military uniforms, broke through a Serbian police cordon at the Merdare crossing before being held back.
On the eve of the declaration, the Nato-led peacekeeping Kosovo Force - with 17 000 troops from 34 nations - said it would intervene robustly to prevent any inter-ethnic violence.
Has branded it an illegal act
Belgrade, which insists it retains sovereignty over what it considers the cradle of Serbian culture and religion, has branded independence an illegal act and a geopolitical land grab by the European Union.
"Whatever happens in Pristina tonight it will not be the end of a part of our history, but just the beginning," said the influential Politika newspaper, summing up the mood in Belgrade.
Independence would bring down the curtain on the long and brutal break-up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s that followed the demise of communism in Europe and saw the continent's worst atrocities since World War 2.
About 10 000 people died in the 1998-'99 war as Serb forces tried to put down ethnic Albanian separatists.
A Nato air war against late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic halted the conflict and Kosovo has since been under United Nations administration.
"We've been waiting for this day for such a long time," said Sherife Bajrami, a Pristina doctor and mother of four. "We'll celebrate with dignity, with respect for minorities, for all to live happily in the land of Kosovo."
The independence declaration started a 120-day transition period and the deployment of a 2 000-strong European Union police and judicial team to help the transition.
US backs independence
A constitution - based on a blueprint for "supervised independence" proposed by UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari that Serbia refused to accept - would come later.
Russia blocked the Ahtisaari plan at the UN and Kosovo's independence declaration will be made without UN Security Council approval, despite its backing by Western powers.
The United States reaffirmed on Sunday its strong backing for an independent Kosovo.
"On Kosovo, our position is that its status must be resolved in order for the Balkans to be stable," said US President George W Bush.
With an estimated 40% unemployment, and half its population under the age of 25, Kosovo will nevertheless remain highly dependent on massive infusions of Western economic aid.
Many of its neighbours fear its independence will unsettle a region still rife with inter-ethnic tension more than a decade after the end of the Balkan wars.
Within the EU, countries such as Greece, Romania and Bulgaria which are close to Serbia, or which, like Spain and Cyprus, have their own separatist problems, have said they would not recognise Kosovo.
Serbia has vowed to oppose the EU police mission. Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic said in a formal protest to Brussels that only the UN Security Council could rule on Kosovo's status.
Russia - Serbia's closest partner on the global stage, and mindful that Kosovo's independence might set a precedent in restive corners of its vast territory - is certain to block such moves.
An act of defiance
An estimated 120 000 Serbs live in Kosovo, which is home to some of the most-important shrines of the Serbian Orthodox faith. More than 220 000 others have left since 1999.
Belgrade is imploring Serbs in Kosovo to stay put as an act of defiance - a message echoed on Saturday by the pretender to the long-abolished Serbian throne, Crown Prince Aleksandar II.
"The most important thing for you is to stay here and remain calm," he told a Serb crowd.
"Wisdom, calm, along with law and order are our only weapons. You must not forget that."
- SAPA
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