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Albanian triumph and Serb anger as Kosovo secedes
2008-02-16
Kosovo Albanians will proclaim independence from Serbia on Sunday, ending a long chapter in the bloody breakup of Yugoslavia. Kosovo will be the 6th state carved from the Serb-dominated federation since 1991, after Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Montenegro, and the last to escape Serbia's embrace. The Serbs vow never to give up the land where their history goes back 1,000 years. They will reject independence in defiance of the Albanians and their Western backers and will keep their grip on strongholds in northern Kosovo, making the ethnic partition of the new state a reality from the start. "The influence of Belgrade has ended," Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said. "The success of Kosovo's independence as a new beginning will be clearly measured by respect for the rights of minorities, especially Serbs," the former guerrilla promised. Triumphant celebrations began hours ahead of the declaration by parliament due on Sunday afternoon. The snowy streets of the capital were packed late into the night. Cavalcades of cars circled with horns blaring and Albanian flags in every hand. Ten years ago this week, Serb forces fought an Albanian guerrilla uprising, killing civilians who got in the way. Major Western powers were calling for talks. Russia backed Serbia in its battle with "terrorists." Determined to end a decade of humiliation from Belgrade under the late autocrat Slobodan Milosevic, the Albanians fought on until the West, unable to sit powerless after other Balkan bloodbaths, bombed Serbia into submission in 1999. Kosovo has been run by the United Nations since Serb forces withdrew in June that year. Promised recognition by the United States and major European Union powers, Kosovo's 90 percent Albanian majority can now ignore Serb warnings. The European Union will deploy a rule-of-law mission of some 2,000 starting next month to take over from the United Nations. A NATO-led peace force of 16,000 troops will stay on. Establishing their writ in Serb-dominated land north of the Ibar River will be their toughest challenge. Serbia says the EU mission is illegitimate because it has no U.N. mandate, and its major ally Russia backs that position. RAZOR-WIRE Serbia promised reprisals but kept them secret. Analysts believe any trade, diplomatic or bureaucratic blockade will be relatively short-lived. But they say impoverished Kosovo, whose population of 2 million is Europe's youngest, will need a lot of development aid and on-the-spot guidance for years to come. Western powers are also nervously watching for any Kosovo fallout in ethnically divided Bosnia, where some Serbs threaten to secede, breaking up their uneasy partnership with Muslims and Croats in what would be yet another Balkan fragmentation. And in neighboring Macedonia, where NATO and the EU stepped in to cut short an ethnic guerrilla war, the Macedonian-Albanian coalition had its fingers crossed for a soft landing in Kosovo. NATO peacekeepers were not relying on optimism. French troops prepared concrete and razor-wire barriers to separate Serbs from Albanians in the flashpoint city of Mitrovica. The commander of NATO peacekeepers in Kosovo, French Lieutenant-General Xavier de Marnhac, said his troops "will react and oppose any provocation that may happen during these days, whether from the Albanian or the Serb side." Most Serbs fled Kosovo in 1999, fearing Albanian vengeance. Of the 120,000 who stayed, about half live in the northern enclave. But the rest are scattered in small, isolated and vulnerable villages. Church leaders urged them not to panic. "Our message to you, all Serbs in Kosovo, is to remain in your homes and around your monasteries, regardless of what God allows our enemies do," Bishop Artemije, the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo, told a service in Mitrovica. Kosovo's declaration will come at a session of parliament to begin at 3.00 p.m. (9 a.m. EST). Serbia's Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica will address his country at 4.00 p.m. (10 a.m. EST). The weather forecast was for heavy snow all day long. (Editing by Matthew Tostevin)
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