Kosovo declares independence from Serbia, Celebrations in Times Square
Originally posted February 2008 on Annual Gymkhana
From CNN.com:
Kosovo has formally declared its independence from Serbia and become the world’s newest state in a move opposed by Serbia and Russia but backed by many western governments.
Kosovo has been under U.N. supervision and patrolled by a NATO-led peacekeeping force since the end of the three-month war (in 1999), in which NATO warplanes pounded Serbia to roll back a campaign of “ethnic cleansing” of the province’s Albanian population under former President Slobodan Milosevic.
The disputed province is dear to the Serbs — Orthodox Christians who regard it as Serbian territory. But it is equally coveted by Kosovo’s ethnic Albanians — Muslims who have a 90 percent majority. Two years of talks on its final status ended in failure last December.
Read the full, official story here.
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Revelers did laps around midtown Manhattan earlier today in celebration of Kosovo’s declared independence which came late last night.
Cars passed blaring their horns, people hung out of the windows and stood up through the sun roofs waving flags and t-shirts — many had taped the Kosovo flag on their car bonnets. Some held up placards which read “Thank You America.”
