Kosovo Declares Its Independence From Serbia

PRISTINA, Kosovo — The former Serbian province of Kosovo declared independence on Sunday, sending tens of thousands of euphoric ethnic Albanians into the streets of this war-torn capital to celebrate the end of a long and bloody struggle for national self-determination.
The declaration marks the final dismemberment in the 17-year dissolution of the former Yugoslavia.
It also brings to a dramatic climax a showdown between the West — which argues that the former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic’s brutal subjugation of Kosovo’s majority ethnic Albanians cost Serbia its authority to rule the territory — and Belgrade and its ally Moscow, which counter that Kosovo’s independence is a reckless breach of international law that will spur other secessionist movements across the world.
Ethnic Albanians from across the world streamed into Pristina, braving freezing temperatures and heavy snow, to dance in frenzied jubilation. Beating drums and waiving Albanian flags, they chanted “Independence! Independence! We are free at last!” while an enormous birthday cake was installed on Pristina’s main boulevard.
An outpouring of adulation for the United States — Kosovo’s staunchest ally in its quest for independence and the architect of NATO’s 1999 bombing campaign against Mr. Milosevic — was evident everywhere. Thousands of revelers unfurled giant American flags, carried posters of former President Bill Clinton, and chanted “Thank You U.S.A.!” and “God Bless America.”
In reading Kosovo’s declaration of independence, its newly elected prime minister, the former guerrilla leader Hashim Thaci, struck a note of reconciliation. He addressed Parliament in both Albanian and Serbian, pledging to protect the rights of the Serbian minority while reaching out to Serbia.
“I feel the heartbeat of our ancestors,” he said, paying tribute to Kosovo’s war dead and to the European Union and Washington. ”We the leaders of our people, democratically elected, through this declaration proclaim Kosovo an independent and sovereign state.” He promised to protect the rights of all the people of Kosovo.
In Belgrade, which has regarded Kosovo as its heartland since medieval times, Serbia’s prime minister, the nationalist Vojislav Kostunica, vowed that Serbia would never recognize the “false state.” He said Kosovo was propped up unlawfully by the United States and called the declaration a “humiliation” for the European Union.
His government has ruled out using military force to respond, but was expected to downgrade diplomatic ties with any government that recognized Kosovo.
European Union officials said Britain, France, and Germany were expected to recognize Kosovo 24 hours after the declaration, to try to stop prevent Moscow and Belgrade from trying to rally opposition to the independence declaration. The recognition of Kosovo by the United States other European Union member states was expected to follow in the coming days.
President Bush, speaking Sunday in Tanzania on a tour of Africa, said the United States would continue to work to prevent violence in Kosovo in the wake of the proclamation, while reaching out to Serbia. “We will fight in each and every international forum,” he said. “Kosovo is part of Serbia.”