Well, they’re back in the news again:
PRISTINA, Kosovo — Kosovo declared itself a nation on Sunday, mounting a historic bid to become an “independent and democratic state” backed by the U.S. and key European allies but bitterly contested by Serbia and Russia.
“Kosovo is a republic _ an independent, democratic and sovereign state,” parliament speaker Jakup Krasniqi said as the chamber burst into applause. Krasniqi, Prime Minister Hashim Thaci and President Fatmir Sejdiu signed the declaration, which was scripted on parchment.
Across the capital, Pristina, revelers danced in the streets, fired guns into the air and waved red and black Albanian flags in jubilation at the birth of the world’s newest country.
Serbian President Boris Tadic immediately rejected the independence bid, saying his country will never accept Kosovo’s “unilateral and illegal” declaration.
(…)
Reacting to the declaration, Serbian President Tadic urged international organizations “to immediately annul this act, which violates the basic principles of international law.”
Not likely to happen, of course. The difference between today and the 1990s lies mainly in the fact that, it’s rhetoric notwithstanding, Serbia doesn’t have the muscle to keep Kosovo from seceding and Russia is unlikely to do anything to help.
February 17th, 2008 at 11:54 am
[...] George Bush said Sunday that Kosovo’s status must be resolved before the Balkans can become stable and that the United States supports the Ahtisaari plan which calls for a form of [...]