Word: serbia
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...modern nation states folded in diverse kingdoms and peoples - that shape Europe's responses to Kosovo's historic, and potentially precedent-setting, declaration of independence. Europe is divided over whether to recognize the new would-be nation on territory that has until now been recognized as part of sovereign Serbia. These divisions forced the European Union to leave it up to each member state to decide whether to recognize Kosovo's independence...
...unilateral act proclaimed yesterday by the assembly of Kosovo," Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos promptly told reporters. "This does not respect international law." Similar opposition has been voiced from a list of smaller European countries that face internal independence movements of their own, or are longstanding allies of Serbia - or both: Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia have rejected Kosovo's independence. It's not hard to find motivation for their stance: The Republic of Cyprus, for example, fears that Kosovo independence will give weight to Turkish Cypriot claims for dividing up the island into two separate nation states...
...Europe's major powers - Britain, France and Germany - have, like the United States, encouraged Kosovo's drive for independence, citing the unique circumstances of its breakaway from Serbia. Nearly 1 million ethnic Albanians were forced to flee Serb ruler Slobodan Milosevic's attempt to "cleanse" them from the Serbian province in which they constituted more than 80% of the population. In the wake of the U.S.-led war that expelled Milosevic's troops from Kosovo, the Serbs have refused to negotiate on the future status of the territory, which the international community acknowledged remained legally part of Serbia even when...
Apart from these minor incidents, fears that Kosovo's independence could trigger a wave of violence in the Balkans have so far not materialized. Serbia has announced that it will boycott Thaci's government as well as the newly established European Union mission to Kosovo. However, Belgrade stopped short of making any military threats towards the renegade province or the international peacekeepers. Serbia is also expected to withdraw ambassadors from any country that recognizes Kosovo, but will not completely severe diplomatic relations with any of them, according to diplomatic sources in Belgrade. The United States recognized the new state...
...heartland. Minutes after Thaci finished reading the declaration in Pristina, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica addressed the nation in Belgrade, declaring Kosvo's independence "null and void." "Kosovo's unilateral declaration of a false state is the final act of a policy that started with the NATO aggression against Serbia in 1999," the Prime Minister said in a televised speech spiked with harsh anti-Western sentiments. Most of Kostunica's anger was directed towards the United States in general and President George Bush in particular. "The President of the United States, who is responsible for this violation, will be noted...