Kosovo Declares Independence From Serbia

Parliament Unanimously Approves Declaration Proclaiming Statehood

(AP)  Kosovo's parliament declared the disputed territory a nation on Sunday, mounting a historic bid to become an "independent and democratic state" backed by the U.S. and European allies but bitterly contested by Serbia and Russia.

Serbia immediately denounced the declaration as illegal, and Russia also rejected it, demanding an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council.

President Bush said the U.S. would work to prevent violence after the declaration and the European Union appealed for calm, mindful of the risk that the declaration could plunge the turbulent Balkans back into instability.

"Kosovo is a republic - an independent, democratic and sovereign state," Kosovo's parliament speaker Jakup Krasniqi said as the chamber burst into applause. 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.

Sunday's declaration was carefully orchestrated with the U.S. and key European powers, and Kosovo was counting on swift international recognition that could come as early as Monday, when EU foreign ministers meet in Brussels, Belgium.

But by sidestepping the U.N. and appealing directly to the U.S. and other nations for recognition, Kosovo set up a showdown with Serbia - outraged at the imminent loss of its territory - and Russia, which warned that it would set a dangerous precedent for separatist groups worldwide.

Ninety percent of Kosovo's 2 million people are ethnic Albanian

most of them secular Muslims - and they see no reason to stay joined to the rest of Christian Orthodox Serbia.

Krasniqi, Prime Minister Hashim Thaci and President Fatmir Sejdiu signed the declaration, which was scripted on parchment, before the unveiling of a new national crest and a flag: a bright blue banner featuring a golden map of Kosovo and six stars, one for each of its main ethnic groups.

"From today onwards, Kosovo is proud, independent and free," said Thaci, a former leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army, which battled Serbian troops in a 1998-99 separatist war that claimed 10,000 lives. "We never lost faith in the dream that one day we would stand among the free nations of the world, and today we do."

"Our hopes have never been higher," he told the assembly. "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 pledged the new nation would be "a democratic, multiethnic state" - an attempt to reach out to Serbs who consider Kosovo the cradle of their medieval culture and religion.

But he also had stern words for the Serbian government, which last week declared secession illegal and invalid, saying in the Serbian language: "Kosovo will never be ruled by Belgrade again."

Thaci on Sunday signed 192 separate letters to nations around the world - including Serbia - asking them to recognize Kosovo as a state.

Serbian President Boris Tadic rejected the independence bid immediately, declaring Sunday's proclamation "unilateral and illegal." Kosovo's 10 minority Serb lawmakers boycotted the parliamentary session in protest.

And Serbia's government minister for Kosovo, Slobodan Samardzic, said Sunday that Serbia would increase its presence in the roughly 15 percent of Kosovo that is Serb-controlled - an apparent attempt to divide the province.

Serbia's government ruled out any military response as part of its secret "action plan" drafted earlier this week as a response, but warned that it would downgrade relations with any foreign government that recognizes Kosovo's independence.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said Moscow supports Serbia's "just demands to restore the country's territorial integrity."

Russian President Vladimir Putin has argued that independence without U.N. approval would set a dangerous precedent for "frozen conflicts" across the former Soviet Union and around the world. He is pressuring the U.N. Security Council to intervene.

Before Kosovo's parliament voted, President Bush said the U.S. will work to prevent violent clashes after the independence declaration. The State Department was reviewing the development with European allies as the province sought swift recognition from the West.

"The United States will continue to work with our allies to do the very best we can to make sure there's no violence," Bush said several hours before Kosovo's parliament approved the declaration.

"We are heartened by the fact that the Kosovo government has clearly proclaimed its willingness and its desire to support Serbian rights in Kosovo," Bush said. "We also believe it's in Serbia's interest to be aligned with Europe and the Serbian people can know that they have a friend in America."

Kosovo had formally remained a part of Serbia even though it has been administered by the U.N. and NATO since 1999, when NATO airstrikes ended former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic's crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists.

Kosovo is still protected by 16,000 NATO-led peacekeepers, and the alliance boosted its patrols over the weekend in hopes of discouraging violence. International police, meanwhile, deployed to back up local forces in the tense north.

Spontaneous street celebrations broke out anew on Sunday, with giddy Kosovars waving Albanian and American flags and dancing in the streets.

[trkshdlght]

to guadalcanal3

Kosovo people didnt "steal" land from Serbia. What Serbia did was a genocide, if you remember the war videos and the massacres back a few years ago. serbia claims he is the collector of Yugoslavia and USA who now supports Kosova backed Serbia then. Serbia was cruel to Kosovo as it was to Bosnia, and these 2 countries did NOT stop fighting. The victims have the victory now. Get used to it.

[boycot-china]

I am so happy Kosovo is now free. Now let the winds of freedom, liberty, and democracy soar into Chechnya and the Basque areas of Spain. Let those freedom loving people break free from the Russian and Spanish persecution and slavery. I thought Russia was now a democracy, but it''s threats of nuclear bombs and high gas prices shows us what it''s really about. This is as bad as what CHINA is doing in DARFUR. The Russian and Chinese communists only want their blood money! BOYCOTT THE COMMUNIST OLYMPICS AND RUSSIAN GAS. Free the Chechnya and Basque home lands.

[xraytwonine]

many of you are concern about the standards of national recognition, but what some of you are forgetting or unfamiliar with is that the western so-called democratic governments possess something called DOUBLE STANDARD. Kosovo is small PR token from the US and its also business, soon we will be importing anytime from contractors to "rebuild" their new found nation and importing hummer H3s and McDonalds...

[guadalcanal3]

This is an Outrage!...How would we like it if Canadians started crossing the border into Alaska...setting up homesteads,taking over farms,blowing up police stations,creating their own illegal flag, and saying that the land is theirs!...What would we call them?...Alaskan-Canadians?...as in Kosovar-ALBANIANS?...If they are Albanian...the answer is obvious...send them back to Albania (where they are from originally from)..But...oh no...if we do that it will be called "ethnic cleasning"...this action is as stupid as The League Of Nations in 1918/19 cutting a big strip out of Germany aka The "Polish Corridor" and isolating Prussia from the rest of Germany..and what did that do?...It gave Hitler the "perfect" excuse for invading Poland!...after all it "was" German land (that was taken away from them)...Waaay back in 1945-1960 Tito invited Albanians to settle in Kosovo and farm the land and set up homesteads...in return the Albanians were required to learn the language and become "Yugoslav" citizens...but no..they started to become a problem (after Tito died of course) and started to kill Serb police officers and blow up police stations!..So what would the United States do if the Hispanics started to blow up police stations in California and Texas, create their own flag and declare independence from the U.S.?..I''ll tell you what we would do...We would send in the military and ship (or deport) all dissenters and troublemakers back to Mexico!...I''m with Russia on this one.

[edward1975-2009]

And the 5 leading arms dealing countries in the world, just so happen, make up the U.N. Security Council. They would love to see this blossom into a conflict. Ka-ching.

[maiingan]

Russia and Serbia can no more declare Kosovo''s independence illegal than they can say a human being cannot reach the age of legal majority.

[xraytwonine]

so much arrogance in this comment area, what matters what you said on here? so go on, carry on with you lives...

[borris007-2009]

In regards to:
For borris, that was the UN not just the US that "took the bait". And, since there is enough evidence to "prove" the ethnic cleansing, can you provide evidence to "disprove" it?

Patdickey43%u2026no question Serbs committed most of the atrocities%u2026 what%u2019s there to disprove.

If the Serbs were allowed to finish off the war without outside interference the war would have ended a lot sooner with a lot less casualties. The Bosnians Muslims we%u2019re holding out for the US to jump right on in, oh yes and the UN. Remember it was Bosnian Serbs, Bosnian Muslims, Bosnian Croats and other minorities killing each other%u2026 can%u2019t really blame the Serbs, they didn%u2019t want to be an ethnic minority in a new Muslim nation.

[borris007-2009]

Yongamerica you%u2019re so ignorant it hurts when I read c??p like this%u2026

What a marvelous victory for Kosovo. At last this territory has separated from a land that practiced genocide and lawless violence against its people

Little do you know!

[pilgrimsway-2009]

Man files Federal Lawsuit against Obama regarding GAY oral act and drug use claims

A man named Larry Sinclair posted a video to YouTube claiming to have used cocaine and engaged in a gay oral act with Obama when Obama was a state legislator in 1999.

In the video, Sinclair claims he and Obama met on two separate occasions, that Obama used crack cocaine and that Sinclair performed an oral act on Obama both evenings.

Now Obama and company are quickly trying to quiet this man, but Sinclair has filed a federal lawsuit. Sinclair filed suit against Obama and his campaign guru David Axelrod in Minnesota district court for allegedly attempting to abridge Sinclair''''s right to free speech, and for waging an intimidation campaign against him.

check out the video on youtube for yourself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=sVeFVtcdSYY

America wants to know: where''''s the media coverage on this???? We deserve to hear the truth!

Posted by TruthBeTold- at 08:46 PM : Feb 17, 2008