Declaring Independence, Kosovo Triggers a Storm
Wall Street Journal. Kosovo’s long-awaited declaration of independence triggered swift and furious responses from Moscow to Belgrade, launching a standoff that many politicians worry could end in destabilization in the Balkans and beyond.
Ethnic Albanians celebrated across the territory — a Serbian province for centuries — after the unilateral declaration was signed on parchment in Kosovo’s parliament yesterday. More than 90% of Kosovo’s population of two million are ethnic Albanian and have been living under United Nations rule since a U.S.-led bombing campaign by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization drove Serbian military forces from the province in 1999.
“Kosovo is a republic — an independent, democratic and sovereign state,” parliament speaker Jakup Krasniqi said after a unanimous vote to approve the document. Kosovo’s 10 minority Serb lawmakers boycotted the session in protest.
Within hours, Russia called an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council for later on Sunday and said it would ask it to declare Kosovo’s claim to independence “null and void” — a request that was unlikely to succeed as the U.S., France and Britain all have vetoes in the Security Council and support Kosovo’s independence bid.
Stiff Right Jab reminder: President Vladimir Putin threatened just two days ago that Russia had a “plan in place” if Kosovo declared independence.
Technorati Tags: news, russia, culture, kosovo, stiff right jab, steve farrell, wall street journal, vladimir putin, communism
Liberty Letters editor Steve Farrell is a pundit with America's Newspage, Newsmax.com, associate professor of political economy at George Wythe College, and the author of the highly praised inspirational novel, "Dark Rose." | More from Steve Farrell
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