Kosovo independence 'weeks away': PM

A former ethnic Albanian rebel leader elected as Kosovo’s prime minister vowed that the province was only weeks away from independence and called on Serbia to give up its claim to the territory.

Kosovo’s parliament elected Hashim Thaci by a vote of 85-22 yesterday to head a coalition government that will try to steer the province through a declaration of independence, a course supported by the US and some European governments, but fiercely opposed by Serbia and Russia.

“It’s an issue of weeks and Kosovo will be an independent, sovereign and democratic country,” Mr Thaci said from his residence in the provincial capital, Pristina. “Independence is everything for us. We have sacrificed – we deserve it.”

He warned that no move would be made without the approval of the US and the key European nations.

“Kosovo will do nothing without Washington and Brussels. No unilateral actions,” Mr Thaci said.

Kosovo, though legally part of Serbia, has been under United Nations and Nato control since Nato's 78-day bombing campaign in 1999 ended a Serb crackdown on separatist ethnic Albanians.

International envoys last year failed to resolve the issue of whether Kosovo should become independent or remain part of Serbia. Russia has previously threatened to veto any UN Security Council measure that allows Kosovo to become a state.

Mr Thaci, 39, is Kosovo’s fifth prime minister since the southern Serbian province came under UN administration. His rise is likely to cause a stir in Serbia, which has accused him of war crimes while he led the Kosovo Liberation Army against troops loyal to the late Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic.

Mr Thaci sought to reassure the province’s Serb minority that it would be safe in an independent Kosovo, and he called anew on Belgrade to relinquish the territory.

“Kosovo will be a country for everybody,” Mr Thaci said.

During a speech to parliament, he appealed to the Serbian minority to consider Kosovo their home and in a symbolic move, switched from speaking Albanian to Serbian.

“Kosovo is a homeland to all its people,” he said.

No independence declaration is likely before Serbia’s presidential elections, which begin with a first round on January 20 and are likely to involve a run-off on February 3.

Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian leaders have refused to set a date for their declaration of independence, but they have hinted they would press forward with secession early this year.