A new European State was proclaimed on Sunday, the 17th of February 2008. Hashim Thaci, Prime Minister of the world’s newest nation, stood before Parliament in Pristina announced the creation of an independent Kosovo that would be “proud, independent and free.” It was also affirmed that the state of Kosovo would be “a democratic, secular and multi-ethnic republic”. Kosovo’s declaration of independence makes it the world’s 193rd state. Around 17 of the 27 EU states have already recognized Kosovo or are expected to within weeks.  Outside the EU, the United States established its ties on 18th of February, 2008, as did Kosovo’s next-door neighbour Albania. “The independence of Kosovo is an historic step for the Balkans region,” the US President, George Bush, said in Tanzania on 18th of February before flying to Rwanda. “It presents an opportunity to move beyond the conflicts of the past and toward a future of freedom and stability and peace,” he said.
A new European State was proclaimed on Sunday, the 17th of February 2008. Hashim Thaci, Prime Minister of the world’s newest nation, stood before Parliament in Pristina announced the creation of an independent Kosovo that would be “proud, independent and free.” It was also affirmed that the state of Kosovo would be “a democratic, secular and multi-ethnic republic”. Kosovo’s declaration of independence makes it the world’s 193rd state. Around 17 of the 27 EU states have already recognized Kosovo or are expected to within weeks.  Outside the EU, the United States established its ties on 18th of February, 2008, as did Kosovo’s next-door neighbour Albania. “The independence of Kosovo is an historic step for the Balkans region,” the US President, George Bush, said in Tanzania on 18th of February before flying to Rwanda. “It presents an opportunity to move beyond the conflicts of the past and toward a future of freedom and stability and peace,” he said.
In a statement issued in Brussels, the EU foreign ministers said Kosovo’s history of “conflict, ethnic cleansing and humanitarian catastrophe” in the 1990s by Serbia  exempts it from a rule saying international borders can only be changed with the agreement of all parties. The statement made it possible for most EU countries to recognize Kosovo’s independence as an exception to the rule of “territorial integrity” of nations under international law. The Irish Foreign Minister, Dermot Ahern, said he would be recommending that his government should recognize Kosovo. “Since the ethnic cleansing that was meted out on it by Serbia under Milosevic and his thugs, the reality is that this day was going to come sooner rather than later,” he told the Irish state radio station RTE.
The US government extended formal recognition to it as a “sovereign and independent state”. “The establishment of these relations will reaffirm the special ties of friendship that have linked together the people of the United States and Kosovo,” the Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, said in a statement.
This declaration of independence is not really about street celebrations and flag flying. Nor is it a piece of paper to wave from government buildings. For the people of Kosovo independence is about daily life; it affects their jobs, education, and the passports on which they travel. It is the promise of security: that no “new Milosevic” will one day forces them to close their schools and universities or ban all media in their language. A guarantee that no army or paramilitaries using the state as a cover will make unlawful demands upon them, take their belongings, brand them terrorists, strip them of any identity papers and drive them out of their homes,” wrote a London-based journalist, Kim Bytyci, a Kosovan Albanian from Serbia.
“It is a final green light from the international community to restart their lives free from state-controlled order, fear and intimidation. It is an act that will pave the way for speedier stabilization of the entire region,” Bytyci hoped.           
In a statement issued in Brussels, the EU foreign ministers said Kosovo’s history of “conflict, ethnic cleansing and humanitarian catastrophe” in the 1990s by Serbia  exempts it from a rule saying international borders can only be changed with the agreement of all parties. The statement made it possible for most EU countries to recognize Kosovo’s independence as an exception to the rule of “territorial integrity” of nations under international law. The Irish Foreign Minister, Dermot Ahern, said he would be recommending that his government should recognize Kosovo. “Since the ethnic cleansing that was meted out on it by Serbia under Milosevic and his thugs, the reality is that this day was going to come sooner rather than later,” he told the Irish state radio station RTE.
The US government extended formal recognition to it as a “sovereign and independent state”. “The establishment of these relations will reaffirm the special ties of friendship that have linked together the people of the United States and Kosovo,” the Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, said in a statement.
This declaration of independence is not really about street celebrations and flag flying. Nor is it a piece of paper to wave from government buildings. For the people of Kosovo independence is about daily life; it affects their jobs, education, and the passports on which they travel. It is the promise of security: that no “new Milosevic” will one day forces them to close their schools and universities or ban all media in their language. A guarantee that no army or paramilitaries using the state as a cover will make unlawful demands upon them, take their belongings, brand them terrorists, strip them of any identity papers and drive them out of their homes,” wrote a London-based journalist, Kim Bytyci, a Kosovan Albanian from Serbia.
“It is a final green light from the international community to restart their lives free from state-controlled order, fear and intimidation. It is an act that will pave the way for speedier stabilization of the entire region,” Bytyci hoped.

History of Kosovo

“Some six decades ago, when Josip Broz Tito took over as the strongman of Yugoslavia, Kosovo was almost arbitrarily attached to Serbia as province of that federal republic (before the Second World War, it had been a province within the Kingdom of the South Slav). Being both linguistically and culturally distinct from all other peoples of Yugoslavia, and the only ones who were Albanian rather than Slav, Kosovo’s Albanian population were treated roughly for most of the 20th century; their language was suppressed, their children deprived of schooling, and they were made to feel more like despised, colonized natives than fellow citizens,” wrote Peter Popham in the daily The Independent, London, on Tuesday, the 11th of December 2007.
Conditions slightly improved in the 1960s and 1970s when Tito’s Yugoslavia granted autonomy to the Albanian-dominated province in 1974. But the situation worsened again in the late 1980’s when Slobodan Milosevic restated Serbia’s claim to the territory and rescinded autonomy. And finally, Kosovo’s Albanian leaders declared independence from Serbia in 1990. The war broke out in 1998 when Serbia attacked Kosovo.
During the conflict in 1998-1999 the rest of the world became aware that an unprecedented genocide was being carried out in Kosovo. It was really unprecedented to see about a million people being deported from their own homes and territories and lands. The interest of the world was aroused specialy when they show the rightful struggle of the Kosovo Liberation Army and the unprecedented deportation that was taking place at that time. “280 mosques out of more than 500 were destroyed or burned or erased. During the war, six of the Municipal Councils of the Islamic community were also destroyed and the headquarters of the Islamic community of Kosovo was also burnt down. The most painful thing is the archives – the 600-years-old archives of the Islamic Community of Kosovo were burnt,” said Grand Mufti of Kosovo.
That is why NATO decided to undertake the air campaign against the Serbian targets in Kosovo and in Serbia. This decision was taken after all other avenues through negotiations were exhausted with the government then led by Milosevic. Since then, for the past eight years, Kosovo had been under the United Nations administration and under the Secretary General’s special envoy.
After the war, Kosovo was destroyed in every respect. But the country survives and the people, with their strong will and determination for a better future, rebuilt not only the infrastructure of Kosovo, but the country geared to take its administration by themselves. Kosovo has its own government, own President, own police force, which reached the numbers of 7,000-strong and the Kosovo Protection Force.
For two decades, while the world looked on, the two million Kosovans lived in a limbo. The disintegration of the former Yugoslavia had begun 10 years ago when Milosevic took decision to send the army to Pristina to secure what later became known as the “tanked constitution”.
It is against this background that one must view the proclamation of independence of Kosovo the historic events. This declaration of independence is the last chapter in the long and painful disintegration of the former Yugoslavia.

Independent Republic of Kosovo

Kosovo has three traditional main religions; Islam, Catholics and Orthodox. Ninety per cent are Muslims, 4 or 5 per cent Orthodox and 2 or 3 per cent are Catholics. After the war, there is a tiny per cent of Protestants and a few who have no faiths. There are also some other faiths which are numerically very low. Ethnically speaking, out of a total population of 2.2 million, Albanians constitute 88%, Serbians 7% and other 5%.
Kosovo has natural resources to survive as an independent state. With the natural resources, Kosovo is one of the richest countries in the world. It has gold, silver, nickel, lead and 10 billion 800 million cubic metres of coal. Kosovo has also fertile soil and water resources. In all, it has got all the necessary resources to have a secure future as a state.
Kosovans are running more than 90 per cent of the administration and judiciary of Kosovo. There is a United Nations administration led by the United Nations representative. But the Kosovo Albanians have the President, the mild-mannered 56-year-old University Professor Fatmir Sejdiu, who has so far taken a back seat to Hashim Thaci. But the Constitution will give him substantial powers. He will be the commander of the security force, with power to appoint judges and ambassadors. He took over from Ibrahim Rugova, the pacifist father of Kosovo independence, when Rugova died in 2006, but lacks his charisma or status.
Kosovo has its own elected Prime Minister and most powerful politician, the 39-year-old Hashim Thaci. He was an exiled student leader living in Switzerland when he crossed secretly into Kosovo in 1993 and became a guerrilla commander in the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).
Kosovo has various ministers, ministries of interior etc. The prerogatives of the Foreign Ministry are exercised by the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Soren Jessen Petersen.
Pieter Feith, the Dutch diplomat and European Envoy in Kosovo, will be the international community’s representative, playing the role of a governor general, with the right to overturn legislation and fire local officials. As a NATO envoy, he played a critical role in defusing an ethnic conflict in Macedonia. He said one of his main aims is to undo the culture of dependence that has grown up during Kosovo’s years as a UN protectorate.
About the future policy of the independent state of Kosovo, the Grand Mufti of Kosovo, Naim Ternava, told me in an interview on 7th of December 2007, “Kosovo will become a state that will have friendly relations with all the countries of the world. It will be a state whose policy will be based on peaceful coexistence, mutual respect, and respect for other religions. We will work for tolerance, peace and full freedom for everyone who lives in Kosovo regardless of whether they are Muslims, Catholics or Orthodox. The Islamic Community of Kosovo will play a leading role in educating the people to respect other religions, the rights of other groups. We will act in this way because this is what Qur’an teaches us. This is what Allah the Almighty teaches us to do.”
What policy would be followed by Kosovo after becoming an independent state, Mufti Naim also told me last year, “Our aims and goals are to become a member of the European Union and member of NATO. When we say that Kosovo will become an independent, we are not saying that we would be an enemy of Serbia. We will create good relations with Serbia; we will have our embassy in Belgrade and have business and trade with Serbia, like with any other member countries. Serbia is our next door neighbour and we will continue to cooperate with Serbia. With all the neighbouring countries such as Montenegro, Macedonia and Albania, we will have the same relations. We will have special relations with immediate neighbours like Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro and Albania. With Serbia, there are certain links which we do not have with other countries. There are more than 100,000 Albanians who are living actually in Serbian territory.”

PNSD congratulates The People of Kosovo

Parliamentarians for National Self-Determination (PNSD), a cross party group of UK Parliamentarians which promotes self-determination as a means of peaceful conflict resolution, heartily congratulates the people of Kosovo on their formal independence. “We wish the new state every possible success and pledge to support its people in the months and years ahead so that they may fully enjoy the benefits that freedom brings. The cause of freedom, dignity and the rule of law has been served and Kosovo's success will offer hope to those other nations and peoples who continue to pursue their own fundamental freedoms.” The press release said.
PNSD is especially pleased that the UK Government has taken the lead in formally recognising Kosovo's new status. David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, spoke (on Radio 4's Today programme on 19/2/08) of the overwhelming desire of Kosovans "seeking self-determination as part of a UN process ……. and eventual resolution of the dispute. If we'd tried to sit on that aspiration, if we'd tried to deny it, I think we'd have far more instability and danger".
Lord Ahmed, chair of PNSD, also said, “PNSD applauds the commitment of Kosovo's Parliament, Prime Minister and President to serve and protect all the people of Kosovo and their willingness to allow international institutions to supervise the delivery of that basic requirement of any state. It is unsurprising that many of those states who have raised objections to Kosovo's independence have themselves been responsible for massive and systematic abuses against national minorities in order to suppress their rights. Ultimately, the erstwhile USSR and Yugoslavia paid a price for such policies; other states who have acted in that fashion will clearly be apprehensive that they might suffer the same fate.  International law and justice have a higher value in the international community than any state entity and Kosovo has demonstrated that to great effect.”
PNSD also urges all freedom loving and democratic forces - whether they be state actors, international institutions, nations or peoples - to recognise the world's newest state without reservation and to renew their commitment to human rights, including the right of self-determination, as a means to end other conflicts. Kosovo's example can and should inspire policy makers to have the courage to tackle injustice wherever it occurs.
This writer heartily congratulates the people and leaders of the Democratic of Republic of Kosovo on the achievement of their long cherished dream of sovereign independent state. I also welcome the historic Declaration of Independence on 17th of February 2008 and also congratulate the UK government which has taken the lead in formally recognising Kosovo's new status. I also congratulate those countries who have recognized the new state. In this connection, I would like to mention that I have been writing about the story of the persecution, oppression and genocide of the people of Kosovo since 1989. The last time I wrote about Kosovo was in 7th of December 2007 when the Grand Mufti of Kosovo, Naim Turnava, came to the United Kingdom and I had the privilege to interview him and he told me that the only way forward for the future of Kosovo is its independence. He also told me that the United Kingdom has given a tremendous support by making this country here and its people aware of what are going in Kosovo and in internationalizing the issue.
I also congratulate the British Foreign Minister, David Miliband, MP., who has taken special interest in this issue and said as early as 10 December 2007 that Britain would recognize Kosovo if it declared independence from Serbia.           

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