Kosovo Kosovor Koso-War

[Arpa]

Kosovo, Kososvor, Koso-War?

Please allow me to move this thread here.

http://hyeforum.com/index.php?showtopic=17563&hl=kosovo

Koranistan, aka Kosovo declares independence from Serbazan Serbia.

Taros@ mez, the astuatsashnchakan Hayastan to declare independence from those turanakan turk-az-es.

Observe how their flag is reminiscent of the furkish flag with a symbol over a totally red background.. Was not the Soviet flag similar?

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/02/17...ies#cnnSTCVideo

Kosovo declares independence from Serbia

Kosovo officially declares independence from Serbia Sunday afternoon "From this day onwards, Kosovo is proud, independent and free"

NEW: Thousands of people on streets of capital Pristina, waving flags and cheering

U.S., EU are expected to recognize new state; Serbia, ally Russia will not

PRISTINA, Kosovo (CNN) -- Kosovo has formally declared its independence from Serbia and become the world's newest state in a move opposed by Serbia and Russia but backed by many western governments.

Lawmakers in the legislature of the former Serbian province approved the declaration of independence at an extraordinary session Sunday afternoon. It was read out in Albanian, Serbian and English by prime minister Hashim Thaci before the approval of state symbols including Kosovar's new national flag and anthem.

Thaci said that Kosovo was an "independent and democratic" state, adding: "From this day onwards, Kosovo is proud, independent and free."

CNN's Alessio Vinci, reporting from the Kosovar capital Pristina, said that thousands of Kosovo's Albanian population had braved the freezing wind and cold to sing, dance, wave flags in the streets and light firecrackers ahead of the much anticipated vote. Some revellers were even said to be firing gunshot into the air. "It's been like this for several hours now," he said. Watch celebrations in the streets of Pristina »

"It's a day they have been waiting for for such a long time that many of them are trying to figure out just how they got to this day."

President George Bush said Sunday that Kosovo's status must be resolved before the Balkans can become stable and that the United States supports the Ahtisaari plan which calls for a form of supervised independence.

The European Union decided Saturday to launch a mission of about 2,000 police and judicial officers to replace the United Nations mission that has been controlling the province since the end of the war with Serbia in 1999.

Kosovo has been under U.N. supervision and patrolled by a NATO-led peacekeeping force since the end of the three-month war, in which NATO warplanes pounded Serbia to roll back a campaign of "ethnic cleansing" of the province's Albanian population under former then-President Slobodan Milosevic.

The disputed province is dear to the Serbs, Orthodox Christians who regard it as Serbian territory. But it is equally coveted by Kosovo's ethnic Albanians, Muslims who have a 90 percent majority, and two years of talks on its final status ended in failure last December.

"Its status must be resolved in order for the Balkans to be stable," President Bush told reporters during a news conference in Tanzania Sunday.

Bush said the Ahtisaari plan -- named after former Finnish President Marti Ahtisaari -- is the best option. The proposal would give Kosovo limited statehood under international supervision.

President Bush added that "it's in Serbia's interest to be aligned with Europe and the Serbian people can know that they have a friend in America."

"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.

Thaci said Thursday he would establish a new government office for minorities and it would protect the rights of minorities after the province declares independence.

Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic has promised his country will refrain from using force against Kosovo after independence, though he has warned that Serbia will take punitive diplomatic, political, and economic measures against the province.

Russia -- Serbia's historic ally -- has remained opposed to Kosovo's independence. Russia, which has fought two wars against separatist rebels in its southwestern republic of Chechnya, has said that U.S. and European support for Kosovo's independence could lead to an "uncontrollable crisis" in the Balkans.

The EU said Saturday that "around 1,900 international police officers, judges, prosecutors and customs officials and approximately 1,100 local staff will be based in headquarters in Pristina or located throughout the judicial and police system in Kosovo."

The EU mission's objective is "to support the Kosovo authorities by monitoring, mentoring and advising on all areas related to the rule of law, in particular in the police, judiciary, customs and correctional services," it said.

All About Kosovo Serbia United Nations European Union

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/02/17...ies#cnnSTCVideo

Edited February 17, 2008 by Arpa

[Armenak]

I will be very disappointed if Armenia recognizes Kosovo's "independence." I am assuming (and hoping) they will take Russia's position on the issue.

[AK-47]

I will be very disappointed if Armenia recognizes Kosovo's "independence." I am assuming (and hoping) they will take Russia's position on the issue.

Remaining neutral or being ambiguous is the best position Armenia can play. We've shown we are capable of remaining neutral, even on the toughest cases (such as chosing between Iran and USA).

Edited February 18, 2008 by AK-47

[Eurocentric]

Remaining neutral or being ambiguous is the best position Armenia can play. We've shown we are capable of remaining neutral, even on the toughest cases (such as chosing between Iran and USA).

 

We're not neutral regarding the so called TRNC. How is this any different?

[Armenak]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=JYIxEFSKPBg

 

I did not see one "Kosovo flag" in the above video.

 

So we all know what the ultimate plan is here...

[AK-47]

We're not neutral regarding the so called TRNC. How is this any different?

Turkey illegally blockades us with the pretext of Artsakh so we take a side, just a simple measure taken against a hostile country. We have nothing to lose with taking a side against Turkey since it refuses to recognize Artsakh.

 

Not that I am for the independence of Kosovo. Kosovo is historical Serbian land, no doubt. But this could be used as the precedent we've been looking for Artsakh. So it would be better if we sit tight.

[Armenak]

Not that I am for the independence of Kosovo. Kosovo is historical Serbian land, no doubt. But this could be used as the precedent we've been looking for Artsakh. So it would be better if we sit tight.

The nations that are recognizing Kosovo, including Turkey, would never recognize Artsakh.

[Ashot]

http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/Flags/rs-kosov.html

[Arpa]

I did not see one "Kosovo flag" in the above video.

 

So we all know what the ultimate plan is here...

You are right. That red flag with the bird is the flag of Abania

[AVO]

Belgrade's US Embassy set on fire

 

By SLOBODAN LEKIC, Associated Press Writer 36 minutes ago

 

BELGRADE, Serbia - Serb rioters broke into the U.S. Embassy and set fire to an office Thursday, and police clashed with protesters outside after a large demonstration against Kosovo's declaration of independence.

 

The embassy said a charred body was found in the embassy after the attack. "It was found at the part of the building set on fire by the protesters," embassy spokeswoman Rian Harris said. She said all embassy staffers were accounted for; Belgrade's Pink TV said the body appeared to be that of a rioter.

 

Masked attackers broke into the U.S. compound, which was closed at the time, just after 7 p.m. and tried to throw furniture from an office. They set fire to the office and flames shot up the side of the building.

 

It took police about 45 minutes to appear at the scene, and firefighters arrived about the same time and put out the blaze. Police secured the U.S. Embassy and surrounding area, blocking off all access.

 

The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, said he was "outraged" by the attack and would ask the U.N. Security Council to issue a unanimous statement "expressing the council's outrage, condemning the attack, and also reminding the Serb government of its responsibility to protect diplomatic facilities."

 

Serbia's President Boris Tadic, on an official visit to Romania, appealed for calm and urged the protesters to stop the attacks and move away from the streets. Tadic said that violence was "damaging" Serbia's efforts to defend Kosovo, which declared its independence from Belgrade on Sunday.

 

More than a dozen nations have recognized Kosovo's declaration of independence, including the United States, Britain, France and Germany. But the declaration by Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leadership has been rejected by Serbia's government and the ethnic Serbians who populate northern Kosovo.

 

For several days, Kosovo's Serbs have shown their anger by destroying U.N. and NATO property, setting off small bombs and staging noisy rallies.

 

On Thursday, the neighboring Croatian Embassy also was targeted by the same group of protesters at the U.S. Embassy, and smaller groups attacked police posts outside the Turkish and British embassies in another part of the city but were beaten back.

 

Elite police paramilitaries drove armored jeeps down the street outside the U.S. Embassy and fired dozens of tear gas canisters to clear crowds. The protesters fled into side streets where they continued clashing with the police.

 

Groups also broke into a McDonald's restaurant and demolished the interior. A number of other shops were also ransacked and people were seen carrying off running shoes, track suits and other sporting goods from a department store.

 

Doctors at Belgrade's emergency clinic reported treating more than 30 injured, half of whom were policemen. All were lightly injured, said Dusan Jovanovic, deputy chief of the clinic, adding that most of the injured protesters were "extremely drunk."

 

In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the U.S. ambassador to Serbia was at his home and in contact with U.S. officials. Security officials and Marine guards were in a different part of the compound, but nobody was inside the embassy building, he said.

 

"We want to strongly urge them, and we are in contact with them, to make sure that they devote the assets to deal with this situation," McCormack told reporters, referring to the Serbian government.

 

Serbia has "a responsibility now to devote the adequate resources to ensure that that facility is protected," he said.

 

Kosovo, which is 90 percent ethnic Albanian, has not been under Belgrade's control since 1999, when NATO launched airstrikes to halt a Serbian crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists. A U.N. mission has governed Kosovo since, with more than 16,000 NATO troops and KFOR, a multiethnic force, policing the province.

 

But Serbia — and Kosovo's Serbs, who make up less than 10 percent of Kosovo's population — refuse to give up Kosovo, a territory considered the ancient cradle of Serbs' state and religion.

 

Earlier Thursday, police estimated that about 150,000 people had attended a rally in the Serbian capital. The crowd waved Serbian flags and carried signs reading "Stop USA terror." One group set fire to a red-and-black Albanian flag.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080221/ap_on_...vo_independence

Edited February 21, 2008 by AVO

[AVO]

Thats an impressive McDonald's.

 

[Ashot]

Serbia: Relations with nations that recognize Kosovo have suffered permanent damage

 

STRASBOURG, France: Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic on Wednesday said his country's relations with the states that have recognized Kosovo have suffered permanent damage.

 

"Relations with those states cannot be as before. None of the countries can count on having exactly the same relations with Serbia," Jeremic said during his visit to Strasbourg, where he held talks with European Parliament and Council of Europe officials.

 

Serbia recalled its ambassadors from Germany and Austria on Wednesday and would recall its envoys from other countries that have recognized Kosovo, he said.

 

He said Serbia would continue to negotiate with the EU since individual member states — not the bloc as a whole — are recognizing Kosovo. But he warned that the province's secession would have a serious impact on Serbia's EU aspirations.

 

The EU said that despite Serbian threats to downgrade its ties with the EU member states, the country's future lies within the EU's ranks.

 

 

"It is important that with the declaration of independence, the doors to the accession to the EU are not blocked," said Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, whose country holds the EU presidency.

 

Jeremic said Serbia would fight for Kosovo "tooth and nail," using all legal means.

 

"We continue to consider the southern province of Kosovo a part of the country," he told EU lawmakers. "There will never be a recognized state of Kosovo in the Balkans."

 

Jeremic added that Serbia would block Kosovo's entry into all international organization of which it is a member, including the United Nations, the Council of Europe and the Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe.

 

In Pristina, the new EU representative in Kosovo tried to calm Serb fears on his first day on the job.

 

Pieter Feith told Kosovo's Serb minority there is "nothing sinister" about the EU's mission to help Kosovo build its judiciary and police force. He said the mission will monitor Kosovo authorities and ensure they adhere to pledges of upholding minority rights.

 

But Jeremic said he was worried about the fate of Serbs in Kosovo, adding that its internationally recognized secession could have consequences not only in the Balkans, but also in other parts of the world.

 

"We are aware of a number of secessionist movements around the world," he said. "...This has provided them with a toolkit on how to seek their independence: first through violence, then through implicit threats of instability, then leading to some kind negotiations and finally a unilateral declaration of independence."

 

The Associated PressPublished: February 20, 2008