Kosovo declares independence

The move by Kosovo to become an “independent and democratic state” is backed by the US 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.

Across the capital, Pristina, revellers fired guns into the air, waved red and black Albanian flags and honked car horns in jubilation at the birth of the world’s newest country.

Krasniqi, Prime Minister Hashim Thaci and President Fatmir Sejdiu signed the declaration, which was scripted on parchment.

The declaration was carefully orchestrated with the US and key European powers, and Kosovo was counting on swift international recognition that could come as early as tomorrow, when EU foreign ministers meet in Brussels, Belgium.

“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 that the new nation would be “a democratic, multi-ethnic 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 today signed 192 separate letters to nations around the world - including Serbia - asking them to recognise Kosovo as a state.

Serbian President Boris Tadic rejected the request immediately, declaring today’s proclamation “unilateral and illegal”.

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

The province 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.

US President George W Bush said on a visit to Africa that the US “will continue to work with our allies to the very best we can to make sure there’s no violence.”

“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.”

Later today, the Kosovo Philharmonic Orchestra planned to play Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” at a sports hall, where top leaders would gather for speeches and toasts. They then planned to sign their names on giant iron letters spelling out “NEWBORN” to be displayed in downtown Pristina, the capital.

Fireworks and an outdoor concert were scheduled for later.

Spontaneous street celebrations broke out anew with Kosovars waving Albanian and American flags.

90% of Kosovo’s two million people are ethnic Albanian – mostly nominal Muslims who are secular and eschew radical Islam – and they see no reason to stay joined to the rest of Christian Orthodox Serbia.

With Russia, a staunch Serbian ally, determined to block the bid, Kosovo looked to the US and key European powers for swift recognition of its status as the continent’s newest nation. That recognition was likely to come tomorrow at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, arguing that independence without UN approval would set a dangerous precedent for “frozen conflicts” across the former Soviet Union and around the world, pressured the Security Council to intervene.

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 recognises Kosovo’s independence.