on Jayyjj
Fireworks for a new nation, this is
not the safest street party in world with rockets set off in the crowd. But
it must be one of the happiest. All day Pristina's streets have been jam-packed
full of people. All day they have been joyously wildly celebrating
independence, a final break with Serbia. Everywhere you see the
Albanian flag flying, the majority of this population of
Ethnic Albanians who feel they've been oppressed for years and they thanked
Britain and America for going to war to help bring this day about. But it won't
be easy for this small poor state, when not only Serbia
but Russia
says today's move is illegal and dangerous, but the people here don't seem to
mind.
"I'm so, so excited, I can't not even talk and I
have something for Russia.
You will never, ever push a closet in
this land. You can go to Serbia
and freeze to down there, thank
you."
"Very happy day for me. It's very important, uh,
finally I have a state like everybody else in the world, maybe it's too late,
but, it's finally happening, so I'm very happy."
"But it's been a, a… long road to get here, it's been
difficult. Yeah, a very very long and taut but now we are in
the finish round, /and we, we thank the United States of
America, the European Union, and all, all who helped us to, to come in
here."
People heading into town to party will pass
the wall outside Parliament, and the
pictures that hang here are of those who are still missing after the war, for
many here it has indeed been a bitter path.
Inside Communist Yugoslavia, Kosovo with its mainly
Ethnic Albanian population had a degree of self-government. As Yugoslavia broke up, the Serbia dictator
Slobodan Milosevic brutally stamped on that and promised Kosovo for the Serbs. The
Kosovo Liberation Army fought back and around 13,000 died in the terrible
Ethnic War. The sight of streams of refugees and news of massacres and mass
graves energized the West and NATO went to war against Serbia, and
drove the Serbian army out of Kosovo. For 9 years the UN has been in charge,
now independence has come.
There has been a response in one area of Kosovo where
Serbs live Mitrovica, crowds surrounded the UN court, and 3
hand grenades were thrown, 1 exploded but nobody was hurt.
And in Serbia's
capital Belgrade,
people throwing rocks and fireworks rushed the US Embassy, again there were no
injuries.
"It was no greater trouble than
that, and the authorities will be pleased. But they are also waiting for the
diplomatic reaction. It is likely that the America will recognize Kosovo very soon, so will
some of the big EU countries Britain
and France and Germany with
at least 5 European Union countries won't recognize Kosovo. But I suppose the
really big question is what do Serbia
and Russia
do? They will say things, they will make some diplomatic moves but does it
amount to anymore than saber-rattling. We will
learn that over the next few days.
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