Dateline...
today...
Location: Another part of the world about which Americans know nothing
Source: From the French News Service
AFP's story:
PRISTINA (AFP) — Kosovo on Sunday declared independence from an angry and anxious Serbia on Sunday, completing the conflict-strewn breakup of the former Yugoslavia.
Tens of thousands of flag waving people in central Pristina erupted in cheers as the Kosovo parliament formally voted to break from Serbia, which has vowed to never recognise the move.
"We are now an independent, free, sovereign and democratic country," announced Kosovo parliament speaker Jakup Krasniqi.
But the jubilation gave way to violence as an explosion rocked the flashpoint northern town of Mitrovica -- which is divided between ethnic Albanians and Serbs -- echoing the deadly past of the volatile Balkans.
The blast occurred near a UN court and where a future mission of the European Union will be located, a police source told AFP.
...
Independence brings down the curtain on the long and brutal break-up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s that followed the demise of communism in Europe and witnessed the continent's worst atrocities since World War II.
About 10,000 people died in the 1998-1999 war as Serb forces tried to put down ethnic Albanian separatists. A NATO air war against late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic halted the conflict and Kosovo has since been under UN administration.
"We've been waiting for this day for such a long time," said Sherife Bajrami, a Pristina doctor. "We'll celebrate with dignity, with respect for minorities, for all to live happily in the land of Kosovo."
The declaration started a 120-day transition period and the deployment of a 2,000-strong European Union police and judicial team to help the transition.
Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu called on "all the countries of the world" to recognise Kosovo's independence.
The European Union is split over independence. Britain, France, Germany and Italy are expected to officially give recognition on Monday.
Greece, Cyprus, Romania, Slovakia, Spain and Bulgaria have all opposed independence.
The breakaway Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia plan to ask Russia and the UN to recognise their independence following Kosovo's move, Russia's Interfax news agency quoted leaders in the two regions as saying.
Kosovo's constitution is expected to be based on a blueprint for "supervised independence" proposed by UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari.
Russia blocked the Ahtisaari plan at the United Nations and Kosovo's independence was declared without UN Security Council approval. The council was to meet again Sunday at Russia's demand, diplomats said.
The United States reaffirmed its strong backing for an independent Kosovo however.
"On Kosovo, our position is that its status must be resolved in order for the Balkans to be stable," US President George W. Bush said.
Do we care, should we care?
Well...
- Kosovo is in the Balkans, the part of the world where WWI started.
- The mess there was caused by a centuries old clash of empires, ethnic and religious cleansing, etc. between the Ottoman Turkish empire and others.
- Kosovo is on the north-western edge of the former Ottoman Empire and was part of a state cobbled together after WWI by the victorious allies from several disparate peoples.
- The south-east corner of the Ottoman empire is modern day Iraq, another nation "invented" by the West after WWI...
So... yes... maybe we should, but I doubt much anyone will.
Should I be wrong, the Wiki article is a good place to start, and its been updated today to reflect these events.
One of these days I'll do a slideshow offline and upload it to Jibjab, but not today, I have a speech in Spanish to memorize for tomorrow!
In English, we have the unique situation of having an entire group of words which are considered "dirty" or vulgar and another group of words which mean the exact same thing which are considered polite. This is a linguistic artifact of the 