Kosovo declares Independence
Kosovo declares independence A special session of Kosovo's parliament has voted to declare independence from Serbia, with thousands of ethnic Albanians jamming the streets of Pristina, the main city, for the historic moment. Background The difficult road ahead After deputies voted on Sunday for a formal proclamation, Hashim Thaci, the prime minister, said "from today onwards, Kosovo is proud, independent and free". He said: "We, the leaders of our people, democratically elected, through this declaration proclaim Kosovo an independent and sovereign state. "Our hopes have never been higher. Dreams are infinite, our challenges loom large, but nothing can deter us from moving forward to the greatness that history has reserved for us." Thaci said Kosovo will be "a democratic, secular and multi-ethnic state", and "will never be ruled by Belgrade again". He, however, vowed to maintain friendly relations with Serbia. All 109 deputies present at the session voted in favour of independence with a show of hands. Eleven deputies from ethnic minorities, including Serbs, were absent. UN deadlock Russia, a key ally of Serbia, denounced Sunday's declaration and called a closed-door emergency session of the UN Security Council, saying it was deeply concerned about the safety of Serbs living in the territory. The discussion among members of the 15-nation council continued to expose deep divisions among them on the future of Kosovo, home to some of the most important shrines of the Serbian Orthodox faith. Russia backs its close ally Serbia, while the US, Britain, France and other European Union members are supporting the majority Kosovo Albanians. Serbia and Russia argue that Kosovo's declaration of independence violates a 1999 council resolution providing for Kosovo to be administered by the UN and Nato troops and that Serbia's territorial integrity be maintained. Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, said that resolution remains in force and the UN "will continue to implement its mandate in the light of the evolving circumstances". Vitaly Churkin, Russia's UN ambassador who spoke to reporters before and after the session, said Moscow was "highly concerned" about Kosovo's declaration of "unilateral independence". Since the UN resolution remains in force, Churkin said, the UN still runs Kosovo and "it is not obvious at all what could possibly be the legal basis for even considering" Kosovo's declaration of independence". "Our concern is for the safety of the Serbs and other ethnic minorities in Kosovo," Churkin told reporters. "We'll strongly warn against any attempts at repressive measures, should Serbs in Kosovo decide not to comply with this unilateral proclamation of independence". Ban said Kosovo's prime minister had assured him he was committed to "equal opportunities and no discrimination" against anyone in Kosovo. He urged all sides to "refrain from any actions or statements that could endanger peace, incite violence or jeopardise security in Kosovo and the region". Scenes of celebration Across Pristina, revellers danced in the streets, fired guns into the air, waved red-and-black Albanian flags and honked car horns in jubilation at the birth of the world's newest country. Ninety per cent of Kosovo's 2 million people are ethnic Albanian - mostly nominal Muslims who are secular - and they see no reason to stay joined to the rest of Christian Orthodox Serbia. "Kosovo is a republic - an independent, democratic and sovereign state," Jakup Krasniqi, the parliament speaker, said as the chamber rang with applause. Krasniqi, Thaci and Fatmir Sejdiu, the president, signed the declaration, which was scripted on parchment. Later, the flag of independent Kosovo was unveiled in parliament. It depicts a yellow outline of the nation on a dark blue field, accompanied by six stars. Thaci signed 192 separate letters to countries around the world - including Serbia - asking them to recognise Kosovo as a state. He also promised to abide by a plan set out by Martti Ahtisaari, a former UN envoy, which proposed a transition period focusing on Serb rights, and eventually leading to independence. Pristina expects countries, including the US and several EU members, to announce their recognition on Monday. EU police mission Kosovo hopes for international recognition that could come on Monday when European Union ministers meet in Brussels, Belgium. The EU on Saturday launched a 2,000-member police and judicial mission to help facilitate Kosovo's transition to independence. Lieutenant-General Xavier de Marnhac, the commander of Nato peacekeepers in Kosovo, said his troops "will react and oppose any provocation that may happen during these days, whether from the Albanian or the Serb side". But Al Jazeera's Barnaby Phillips, reporting from Kosovo's Serb stronghold of Mitrovica, said grenades were thrown at EU and UN buildings. He said: "Two explosive devices were used - one aimed at where an EU mission planned to base itself in the area, and the other at a UN building." "It seems that the international community has been singled out by angry Serbs in Mitrovica." The same antipathy was on display in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, where people stoned the US embassy in protest against its pro-independence stand. "Kosovo is the heart of Serbia," shouted up to 2,000 demonstrators. Some broke windows at the embassy. Bush criticised Vojislav Kostunica, the Serbian prime minister, singled out George Bush in a speech on Sunday. He said: "The president of the United States, who is responsible for this violence, as well as his European followers, will be inscribed in the history of Serbia with black letters, but also in the history of international law on which the world's order is based. "Today, on February 17, the fake state of Kosovo was illegally proclaimed on territory under the control of Nato," Kostunica said. "This was an act of legal violence." The previous day, Boris Tadic, Serbia's new pro-Western president, issued a similarly defiant statement. "Serbia has reacted and will react with all peaceful, diplomatic and legal means to annul this act committed by Kosovo's institutions," he said. "Serbia will not resort to violence and it is the only approach which can enable us to continue our legitimate fight to preserve the integrity of our country." Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

This development proves the bias, incompetence and idiocy of the UN and the selfish motives of its member states. They have demonstrated a complete lack of understanding of the Balkan region and have once again confused irredentism with separatism. The incident has ramifications for nationalist movements everywhere. The majority of pro- Kosovo independence fans point to the numerical superiority of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. Demography and the numerical strength of a group are not adequate reasons for secession. Firstly, populations are constantly changin and can be manipulated. In Kosovo, Serbs were displaced by Albanians first during the Ottoman conquest, then by fascists in WW2, and then finally by creeping colonisation by Albanians under Tito. So Albanians are the majority in Kosovo- so what? It doesn't make it theirs. The parallel with Ireland is clear- 'Ulster' can be legitimately classed as belonging to the UK because the majority want it, ignoring the fact that this majority is artificially constructed and based on imperialism. Second, Kosovo Albanians have a state. It's called Albania. The first step is an 'independent Kosovo', and the second is a greater Albania. Their secession is not based on any lack of homeland, but rather a greed for an increased homeland. It cheapens genuine nationalist movements elsewhere. The positives: 1. Once nationalists are numerically superior to unionists in the 6 counties they will have a precedent and therefore a huge case in the U.N. In otherwords, armed struggle may become pointless as will the moral angle of Republicanism (i.e., one doesn't have to justify secession with historical rights to land, the right to escape oppression etc) 2. Shadow parliaments can unilaterally declare independence and get away with it, and the UN is so fractured that nothing would be done about it. The U.N is likely to favour the separatists in order to avoid bloodshed. Now they've recognised Kosovo and ignored the concerns of the sovereign state of Serbia, they cannot be seen to hypocritically deny the right of secession to other small nations.

Serbia 'annuls' Kosovo independence Monday, 18 February 2008 22:08 The Serbian parliament has unanimously annulled the proclamation of Kosovo independence, saying it violates the country's territorial integrity and sovereignty. 225 deputies in the 250-strong parliament voted to pass the government-proposed decision on proclaiming 'null and void' Kosovo's declaration of independence. The declaration stated that Serbia's sovereignty over Kosovo and territorial integrity was guaranteed by the Serbian constitution, the UN Charter, UN Security Council Resolution 1244 ... and international law. AdvertisementThe document said that Serbia had also decided to proclaim as null and void all decisions by the European Union to send a mission to Kosovo. These decisions have no legal foundation for Serbia and produce no obligation of Serbia towards the European Union, it stated. The European Union has approved a Kosovo mission dubbed EULEX, which is designed to help the new state in a transition period by deploying some 2,000 personnel, mainly police and justice experts. Earlier, Serbia said it was recalling its ambasssador to the United States after Washington recognised Kosovo's new independent status. Serbia wants the United Nations Security Council to condemn the declaration of independence as illegal. Meanwhile, the European Union failed as a whole to adopt a joint position recognising the new state. The four major EU powers - France, Germany, Britain and Italy - announced their intention to recognise the new state that seceded from Serbia yesterday, but Spain and several other countries said they would not do so The leadership of the self-declared independent state of Kosovo began its campaign for international recognition by sending out 192 letters to the world's nations. Its declaration has already led to sharp divisions at the UN where Russia and Serbia are leading diplomatic efforts to have the move annulled. China has said it is deeply concerned about Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence and has urged it to re-open talks with Serbia. Despite this, celebrations are continuing in Kosovo after its declaration yesterday. The parliament unanimously endorsed the declaration, promising democracy and respect for the rights of all ethnic communities. However, Serbia has criticised the move calling the new state 'false' and there have been violent demonstrations in Belgrade.

Violence as Kosovo Serbs protest Nato-led peacekeeping troops in Kosovo have intervened after a group of Serbs, opposed to Kosovo's newly declared independence, burned down one border crossing and attacked another. Kosovo police called for help from Nato-led Kfor peacekeepers on Tuesday after they came under attack from more than 1,000 Serb protesters. Two border crossings in northern Kosovo, staffed by UN and Kosovo's multi-ethnic police and customs service, were set on fire by Kosovo Serbs. Police took shelter in a tunnel at a border post near Zubin Potok in Kosovo's Serb-dominated north. Protesters also tipped over metal sheds housing Kosovo's customs service and sent them sliding down a hill and into a river. "Kfor is going to intervene now," Colonel Betrand Bonneau, a Kfor spokesman, was quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying. Another Kfor source said troops were already at one border post which had been burnt to the ground. International recognition Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia on Sunday has angered Belgrade, the Serb capital, and caused divisions among world powers, only some of which have recognised Europe's newest nation. On Tuesday Taiwan joined those which have officially recognised Kosovo, in a move likely to antagonise China which has expressed "grave concern" over Kosovo's secession precisely because of the signals it could send to Taiwan. "The Republic of China from today on formally recognises Kosovo," James Huang, Taiwan's foreign minister told reporters, and stressing that nations had the right of self-determination. China reacted angrily to Taiwan's expression of support for Kosovo, bluntly telling the island it had no right to offer an opinion on the subject. Source: Agencies