PRISTINA — Kosovo’s Parliament yesterday declared the province’s independence from Serbia, giving Europe a new nation and marking an historic turning point in the volatile Balkans.
“From this moment, the political position of Kosovo has changed,” announced the Speaker of Parliament, Jakup Krasniqi, after a declaration of independence was adopted by lawmakers through a show of hands. “We are now an independent, free, sovereign and democratic country. Congratulations to all of you.”
The streets of Pristina, packed with cheering and flag-waving Kosovars, erupted in euphoria at the moment of independence under a crisp and clear winter sky, with volleys of firecrackers going off. The pedestrianized Mother Teresa avenue was awash with blood-red Albanian flags — pending parliament’s approval later in the day of a new Kosovo flag, depicting a map of the newborn state on a dark star-studded field.
In Belgrade, Serbian President Boris Tadic said Serbia would never recognize Kosovo as an independent state, while in New York the UN Security Council was to hold an emergency session later in the day. Inside the parliamentary chamber, foreign diplomats looked on as the 100-odd legislators took turns using a fountain pen to put their signatures onto the declaration of independence.
The historic document was spread widely across a wooden table, on one side of which were seated Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, President Fatmir Sejdiu and Krasniqi, the parliamentary speaker.
Its text, according to a simultaneous translation from Albanian into English, began by “reaffirming the wish of our people to fully integrate into the Euro-Atlantic family of democracies.”
It pledged equal rights for Kosovo’s minority Serbs, whose leaders have vowed to boycott the new country’s institutions.
It said Kosovo was “a special case that comes out of the disintegration of Yugoslavia and is not a precedent of any other situation,” and recalled “the days and years of violence in Kosovo that disturbed many nations in the world.”
The declaration expressed gratitude “toward the whole world which took a step in 1999 and intervened” in ending Serbian rule and putting Kosovo under interim UN administration.
