Kosovo Indipendence

[GeaGea SkyWalkeR]

Kosovo begins independence move

Albanian and American flags have been on prominent display
Kosovo's parliament has been called into emergency session to formally declare independence from Serbia.
"We have to take decisions on the future of our nation," Prime Minister Hashim Thaci told reporters. MPs are expected to meet at 1400 GMT.

The US and a number of EU countries are expected to recognise Kosovo on Monday.

Serbia has threatened Kosovo with diplomatic and economic sanctions, but not force. Its ally, Russia, also opposes Kosovan independence.


See a map of Kosovo's ethnic breakdown
Correspondents say the potential for trouble between Kosovo's Serbs and ethnic Albanians is enormous.

Serbia's Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica is to make a televised address at 1500 GMT.

Flashpoint town

"We are on the brink of a very crucial moment - an important decision that will make us one of the free nations of the world," Mr Thaci told the media as he read the letter sent to the speaker of parliament, Jakup Krasniqi, to request the special session.


He said the MPs would approve the declaration of independence and would vote on the state symbols.

Top leaders are due to go to a sports hall later where the Kosovo Philharmonic Orchestra is expected to play Beethoven's Ode to Joy.

Leaders were reportedly also due to sign their names on giant iron letters spelling out the word "newborn" which was to be displayed in Pristina.

Fireworks and street celebrations will follow. Thousands of people are pouring onto the streets.

"This will be a joyful day," Besnik Berisha, a Pristina resident, told the Associated Press news agency.

"The town looks great, and the party should start."




UK soldiers on standby
Legal furore over recognition

Some ethnic Albanians, who make up the majority of Kosovo's population, have been laying flowers on the graves of family members killed by Serbian security forces during years of conflict and division.

The BBC's Nick Thorpe in the flashpoint town of Mitrovica says local and UN police, as well as the Nato troops, are maintaining a high profile to reassure all the citizens of Kosovo that they have nothing to fear.

Limitations

Kosovo's parliament is expected to endorse a declaration that contains limitations on Kosovan independence as outlined in the UN plan drawn up by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari.

Kosovo, or part of it, cannot join any other country. It will be supervised by an international presence. Its armed forces will be limited and it will make strong provisions for Serb minority protection.

UK and other major countries, will come on Monday after a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, says the BBC's Paul Reynolds.

The US is also expected to announce its recognition on Monday.

Three EU states - Cyprus, Romania and Slovakia - have told other EU governments that they will not recognise Kosovo, says our correspondent.


Russia's foreign ministry has indicated that Western recognition of an independent Kosovo could have implications for the Georgian breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

The UN has administered Kosovo since a Nato bombing campaign in 1999 drove out Serb forces.


Congradulation's to the people of Kosovo.

[Motorcity]

My first reaction to Kossovo's independence was that it was a Mcdpendence!

Simply the US/west played on these people's freedom demand to settle problems with Russia & Serbia.

But this New York Times photo essay sheds some light on the process in a different way:

http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html...URE/index.html

[SeekNirvana]

Why not a referendum?

[CPL]

Originally Posted by SeekNirvana

Why not a referendum?

A referendum in Kosovo will not only give it independence, it would even join Albania.

FINE let it be a referendum, but we also want internationally recognized referendums in the Basque, Catalonia, Flanders & Wallonia, Transylvania, Southern Slovakia, Eastern Austria, Nagorno Karabakh, Alexandretta, Golan Heights, Western Sahara, South Ossetia & Abkhazia.

I don't care for ethnicities, but this is very hypocrite from the countries who imposed such separation.

The funniest part is France's support, the one who still has colonies: Reunion, Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique. Oh, of course, those are ancient celts also, this explains why they are integrated :)

[Jorje]

Originally Posted by SeekNirvana

Why not a referendum?

There's no need for it. One has already been done in the early 90s, and a crushing majority wanted independence. There's no question what the Albanian population wants.

[SeekNirvana]

Originally Posted by Jorje

There's no need for it. One has already been done in the early 90s, and a crushing majority wanted independence. There's no question what the Albanian population wants.

Yup. Thanks, wasn't aware of that:

Wikipedia Two years later, in 1992, the parliament organized an unofficial referendum which was observed by international organizations but was not recognized internationally. With an 80% turnout, 98% voted for Kosovo to be independent.

[Abu Ruman]

I am ideally against partition politics which is defined by religious-ethnic sectors. I think its a catalyst for disaster.

But, the Serbs brought this upon themselves through their own stupidity by committing that horrible genocide in the Balkans against their neighbors.

And more importantly, why is everyone (namely Christian demagogues) so morally offended? The Jews got away with this after the holocaust (i.e. Israel) and now the Kosovars are making the same move after recovering from their own genocide.

I find the hypocrisy here more fascinating than the conflict itself.

[SeekNirvana]

Originally Posted by Abu Ruman

I am ideally against partition politics which is defined by religious-ethnic sectors. I think its a catalyst for disaster.

I just don't see the point of us being with or against. People are free to choose what they want, and in these guys' case, the referendum in the early 90s was almost unanimous and the MPs unanimously declared the independence.

[dodzi]

Originally Posted by SeekNirvana

I just don't see the point of us being with or against. People are free to choose what they want, and in these guys' case, the referendum in the early 90s was almost unanimous and the MPs unanimously declared the independence.

Totally right, we should have done a referendum in the Palestinian controlled territories in Lebanon during and before the war. Perhaps that would have settled things right!

[SeekNirvana]

Originally Posted by dodzi

Totally right, we should have done a referendum in the Palestinian controlled territories in Lebanon during and before the war. Perhaps that would have settled things right!

Yea because ethnic Albanians recently visited Kosovo, they've been there for not more than 2 weeks.