Kosovo: An all-new country, with all-new diplomatic headaches
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It’s done: As of yesterday, the Serbian province of Kosovo, which has long been dominated by a mostly Muslim, ethnic-Albanian population, is a new, independent country. At a special session of Kosovo’s parliament in the provincial-turned-national capital, Pristina, the new state’s prime minister, Hashim Thaci, read aloud a statement declaring its independence from Serbia, “prompting celebrations in…Pristina but outrage in Belgrade and Moscow,” for the emergence of the world’s newest country is being seen in some places “as a test case for separatist conflicts across the world.” Thus, even as Kosovo’s independence news was “cautiously welcomed by major European powers, [it] was instantly denounced [by] Serbia and [by] its staunch ally[,] Russia.” Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said: “For the citizens of Serbia, for Serbia, there is no and [there] will never be a fake state of Kosovo on its territory.” (Telegraph)
admin @ February 19, 2008