Kosovo Declares Independance From Serbia

[OldTigerCub]

On Sunday ,the 17th of February, 2008, after many years of bloody conflict in the Balkans, the Republic of Kosovo declared (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,330951,00.html)it's independance from Serbia:

Kosovo Declares Independence From Serbia
Sunday, February 17, 2008

PRISTINA, Serbia — Revelers fired guns into the air and fireworks lit up the skies over Kosovo on Sunday after parliament proclaimed independence, defying Serbia and Russia with a historic declaration as the world's newest nation.

A decade after a bloody separatist war with Serbian forces that claimed 10,000 lives, lawmakers pronounced the territory the Republic of Kosovo and pledged to make it a "democratic, multiethnic state." Its leaders looked for swift recognition from the U.S. and key European powers — but also braced for a bitter showdown.

Serbia is not pleased with the announcement (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,330977,00.html), for obvious reasons:

BELGRADE, Serbia — Serbia's president rejected Kosovo's declaration of independence Sunday, calling it a "unilateral and illegal" move and vowing to retake the territory Serbs consider their historic heartland.

Neither is Russia: (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,330975,00.html)

PRISTINA, Serbia — Russia denounced Kosovo's independence declaration Sunday and called for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council, where Moscow holds veto power as a permanent member.

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said Russia supports Serbia's "just demands to restore the country's territorial integrity" and wants the Security Council to renew efforts to reach a settlement on the issue of Kosovo's status.

The ministry said Kosovo's independence declaration violates Serbia's sovereignty and the U.N. Charter and threatens "the escalation of tension and ethnic violence in the region, a new conflict in the Balkans." It warned other nations against "supporting separatism" by recognizing Kosovo.

Let us hope that cooler heads prevail and that the region does not re-ignite into all-out war and further rounds of "ethnic cleansing".

[Ryokan]

As a veteran NATO-soldier in the conflict of former Yugoslavia, this pleases me greatly.

[KoihimeNakamura]

I thought that .... Kosovo was originally a nation?

[Ryokan]

I thought that .... Kosovo was originally a nation?

Kosovo has never been its own sovereign nation. Until today, it has been a semi-autonomous state in the Yugoslavian federation, i.e. Serbia.

[nzric]

I volunteered in Kosovo in 2000 and saw the damage that people from both sides can do in such a short time.

It's a shame that both sides still teach their kids the ethnic hate - hard to move forward when your idea of your neighbouring country is a cardboard pastiche of stereotypes. Lets just hope that cooler heads prevail.

Unfortunately, there will be a few hiccups along the way. A single thug with a grenade in Mitrivica can easily undo months of political work and "rebuilding"

[Pardalis]

Boy, these countries are getting smaller and smaller.

[Travis]

Surely the US would never intervene over such a place since there isn't any oil there.......oh wait.

[nzric]

Surely the US would never intervene over such a place since there isn't any oil there.......oh wait.

WTF???

[Bikewer]

I wonder about the role of human nature in all this. It seems to me that we evolved in very small groups; clans or bands, mostly interrelated. Seems as well that we are happiest in such groups; tribes at best.
Anthropologists have written about this, seeing the State, the Country only as "super tribes".
Of course, we can't really relate to such a thing. Ask someone where they're from, and likely they will not say "America" or "Brazil", but rather "St. Louis" or "Rio".
And if asked locally, the answer will likely be even more constrained; down to a neighborhood or section of the city.

At the same time, once established, it's obvious that states fight ferociously to maintain their "territorial integrity". We in America have been as guilty of that as anyone.

[Francesca R]

Let us hope that cooler heads prevail and that the region does not re-ignite into all-out war and further rounds of "ethnic cleansing".I don't think that's likely. Serbia and Russia are not expected to kick up much of a fuss about this, despite refusing to acknowledge Kosovo independence.

Of course it has very little to do with Russia--Russia simply has its own internal reasons for not wanting to endorse secessionism.

[Madalch]

Of course, we can't really relate to such a thing. Ask someone where they're from, and likely they will not say "America" or "Brazil", but rather "St. Louis" or "Rio".
Depends on where you are when you're asked. If someone asks me where I'm from when I'm at home, I'll say I'm from Edmonton. If I'm asked the same question when I'm in Europe, I'll say I'm from Canada.

Unless I'm talking to a Spanish fisherman.

[nzric]

At the same time, once established, it's obvious that states fight ferociously to maintain their "territorial integrity".
I agree. There's a reason that the term Balkanisation has so many negative connotations, since that region has such a history of "blood feuds". I was almost thrown in jail for reporting a theft to a Greek police station in Thessaloniki ... my error? Telling the tourist police officer that my daypack was swiped by two Greek soldiers and that I was on my way to Macedonia (a country which is next door but many Greeks don't recognise) the next day to work with Albanians ("dirty Albanians").

I spent a couple of months in Kosovo 1yr after the war, mostly teaching childrens programs, and each day we met with adults "indoctrinating" their kids into the same attitude by cheering/congratulating their "^&%* the Serbs" artwork. On the other hand, many of them had lost family members/friends/homes and from the destruction everywhere you could argue that a lot of them had justification to hold a grudge.

They say time is a healer but since the Kosovars and the Serbs are still arguing about a 500yo battle I don't hold much long-term hope.

[Wire]

Of course it has very little to do with Russia--Russia simply has its own internal reasons for not wanting to endorse secessionism.

Russia will now start endorsing secessionism in its neighbouring countries like Moldova and Georgia.

[gtc]

They say time is a healer but since the Kosovars and the Serbs are still arguing about a 500yo battle I don't hold much long-term hope.

The old saying is that those who do not remember the past are destined to repeat it. That saying is completely wrong in this part of the world.