A year on, Kosovo celebrates 'historic birthday'
2009-02-17

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PRISTINA (AFP) - Thousands of revellers took to Kosovo's streets on Tuesday to mark the first anniversary of its declaration of independence, as nationalist Serbs reasserted their opposition to the move.

"Today is a birthday for all of us," Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci told the same parliament that on February 17, 2008 unilaterally proclaimed independence from Serbia for the predominantly ethnic Albanian province.

"We are today marking the biggest and most important holiday of the people of Kosovo," he said. "The year we are leaving behind is a year of successes and pride, the year of historic success of our country."

Since breaking away from Serbia, Kosovo has been recognised by 54 mainly Western countries, and adopted the trappings of full statehood including an anthem, constitution, flag, security force, and even an intelligence agency.

Thaci, a former leader of the political wing of the ethnic Albanian separatist rebels who fought Serb forces in 1998 and 1999, said Kosovo had completed the building-up of its national institutions.

And while it has yet to be admitted to any world bodies, he predicted it would receive more international recognition including membership in the International Monetary Fund and World Bank later this year.

Joyous celebrations followed in Pristina, with children dressed in costumes emblazoned with Kosovo's new flag breaking into traditional dance routines on the main Mother Teresa Street.

They were surrounded by the noise and colour of car horns and fluttering flags of Albania, the United States and the European Union, in tribute to the main backers of Kosovo's independence.

"There is no better word in the world than independence," said one of the revellers, 31-year-old teacher Majlinda Demiri.

"I cannot believe it has been a year already. It seems like it was yesterday when we said a final farewell to Serbia," said another, 66-year-old pensioner Ilaz Kastrati.

But in defiance of the celebrations, a rebel Serb parliament reasserted its opposition to independence at a meeting in northern Kosovo attended by Serbian lawmakers who travelled from Belgrade.

"This parliament rejects as non-existent and without any legal validity all acts and deeds which unilaterally proclaimed the independence of Kosovo and forming of institutions of Kosovo as a quasi-state," said a declaration adopted by the assembly.

The nationalist leaders of the Serb minority in northern Kosovo voted to dismiss institutions set up by Kosovo's ethnic Albanian-dominated government, including its constitution and security force.

Serbs in Kosovo mostly live in the north, clinging to a few municipalities close to the Serbian border and the ethnically divided town of Mitrovica, scene of the worst violence in Kosovo during the past year.

Serbia's minister for Kosovo, Goran Bogdanovic, told the Serb assembly that Belgrade "will never give up its fight" for Kosovo.

"(Kosovo) Albanian political leaders should know that our communities are turned to each other and the future cannot be built on conflicts but cooperation," Bogdanovic said.

Kosovo's declaration of independence marked the final chapter in the violent breakup of the former communist Yugoslavia.

Wrested from Belgrade's control by a NATO air war against then Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic's autocratic regime, Kosovo had been under UN administration since 1999.

Today it is recognised by the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan and all but five of the 27 EU member states. But Serbia -- supported by China, India and Russia -- rejects its independence.

Serbia contends that Kosovo's declaration of independence was illegal under international law. In September it won UN General Assembly backing to challenge Kosovo's action before the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

In an interview with AFP, Serbian President Boris Tadic said Monday that Kosovo was far from independent, and that it was wracked by organised crime and human rights abuses.

And Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic described Kosovo as a "virtual state" and called for relations between Serbs and Albanians there to be "improved through a dialogue."

Despite fears of unrest, the only sign of any trouble on Tuesday occurred in the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad, where ultra-nationalists chanted "Kosovo is the heart of Serbia," blocked traffic and lit flares and firecrackers.