PrairiePundit

NY Times: ... The meaning of the Kosovo Province to Serbs is neatly encapsulated in phrases like “ancestral heartland” that do little to capture its depth and centrality as a symbol of national pride. The declaration was akin to foreign powers forcing the United States to give up the Alamo, only worse. Supporters of Kosovo’s independence argue that Mr. Milosevic’s brutal subjugation of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo forsook Serbia’s moral and legal claim to rule the territory. ... The independence of Kosovo is by far the hardest blow in the series of secessions from the former Yugoslavia that began in 1991. After years of watching the country being whittled down — in 2006 Montenegro peacefully ended its union with Serbia — there was an expectation among reform -minded Serbs that, having rid themselves of Mr. Milosevic and embraced democracy, their case would be heard differently. “Now we’ve been doing things the right way, and it’s still not good enough, and Serb national interests are cru...

AP /Houston Chronicle: Violent protests rocked Serbian-dominated northern Kosovo on Friday, as mobs chanting "Kosovo is ours!" hurled stones, bottles and firecrackers at U.N. police guarding a bridge that divides Serbians from ethnic Albanians. The scenes evoked memories of the carnage unleashed by former Serbian autocrat Slobodan Milosevic the last time Kosovo tried to break away from Serbia, which considers the territory its ancestral homeland. There were disturbing signs the riots in Belgrade, Serbia, and in Mitrovica have the blessing of nationalists in the Serbian government. The government hopes somehow to undo the loss of the beloved province, the site of an epic battle between Serbians and Turks in 1389. ... In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said it was time for Serbians to accept that Kosovo is no longer theirs. She suggested it was time to drop centuries of grievance and sentimentality in the Balkans. "We believe that the resolution of Kosovo...

CNN: Violence broke out Thursday as tens of thousands of Serbs protested Kosovo independence and reportedly set fire to the facade of the U.S. embassy in Belgrade, according to news agencies. Riot police fired tear gas at Serb rioters as protesters wearing masks broke into the embassy. U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said; "We are in contact with the Serbian government to ensure that they devote the appropriate assets to fulfill their international obligations to help protect diplomatic facilities in this case." The embassy was closed and not staffed, a U.S. official told CNN. The United States was among the first countries to offer official recognition of independent Kosovo. The violence was part of a much bigger, peaceful demonstration where up to 150,000 people chanted 'Kosovo is Serbia," and vowed to never accept the province's independence. ... Photographs showed demonstrators, many of them wearing their reservist uniform, hurling rocks a...

Reuters /NY Times: Serbia rallied its people on Thursday for a mass protest against Kosovo's declaration of independence to show the world its anger at the loss of its religious heartland. Organizers expect hundreds of thousands to attend the "People's Rally" in the Serbian capital Belgrade, in what would be the biggest demonstration since half a million filled the streets in 2000 to oust nationalist autocrat Slobodan Milosevic . Belgrader Milan Vukosavljevic said it was important to show the strength of Serbian felling against Kosovo's independence, which most see as an illegal move despite Western backing. "It's an invented state, shame on Europe and on the whole world," he said. A three-storey-high stage was being erected in front of the 100-year-old Yugoslav parliament building, with Serb flags and a giant banner reading "Kosovo is Serbia." The government condemned hooded rioters who stoned the U.S. and EU embassies right a...

NY Times: Serbs in northern Kosovo on Wednesday continued what appeared to be a drive to force a partition three days after the ethnic Albanian majority declared the province’s independence from Serbia . A mob of 300 Serbs wielding clubs and tools gathered on a road near this small village of ethnic Albanians in northern Kosovo, prompting NATO to send armored vehicles and tanks to head them off. Earlier, ethnic Albanian police officers, part of Kosovo’s multiethnic police force, were forced out of the neighboring Serb village, where they were patrolling with fellow Serbs. It was the latest sign that Serbs in Kosovo, incensed by the declaration of independence, are trying to assert control over the northern part of Kosovo, the majority of whose residents are ethnic Serbs. NATO peacekeeping troops closed off roads between Serbia and northern Kosovo, and United Nations police officers guarded checkpoints still smoldering after they were burned down Tuesday by several hundred Serbs in ...

Guardian: Up to 1,000 men, some suspected of being members of the Serbian Ministry of Interior police, crossed into northern Kosovo yesterday amid rising fears that minority Serbs living in the new state's north would attempt effectively to partition Kosovo along the Ibar River. After two days of rapidly rising tensions between Serbs and Albanians following Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia on Sunday, eyewitnesses counted close to 200 cars and buses crossing from southern Serbia full of men. In a day of high drama, masked Serbs also torched two border posts separating Serbia from Kosovo, located at Jarnije and Banja about 18 miles north of Mitrovica, with bulldozers and plastic explosives.Nato troops later closed down the roads leading to the checkpoints, cutting off the only link between northern Kosovo and Serbia. Several incidents were reported overnight, including masked attackers throwing grenades at UN and Albanian-owned buildings. No one was reported injur...

BBC: ... President Tadic told the UN Security Council there were "dozens of various Kosovos in the world and all of them lie in wait for Kosovo's act of secession to... be established as an acceptable norm". "If you cast a blind eye to this illegal act, who guarantees to you that parts of your countries will not declare independence in the same illegal way?" he asked. ... If you want an idea of why the Kosovars disagree take a look at this BBC graphic which shows the population by ethnic mix of Kosovo. It is easy to understand why Russia would be concerned that states like Chechnya might declare independence and leave. In the US we have already fought a war over such things.

Wall Street Journal Editorial: When Slovenia declared independence in 1991, Belgrade sent in tanks. When Croatia and Bosnia did the same, the Serbs started wars that left a quarter million dead. So Serbia's resort to violent rhetoric in response to Kosovo's declaration of independence yesterday counts as a kind of Balkan progress. The newborn isn't out of danger, with Serbia and Russia wishing Kosovo ill. But the presence of NATO troops, and expected swift recognition by the U.S. and major European powers, ought to calm nerves and end the last territorial dispute in the Balkans. By taking the lead during the 1999 aerial war that forced Slobodan Milosevic's ethnic cleansers from Kosovo and now on independence, the U.S. is shepherding one more Muslim nation to freedom—not that it will get credit for it in the Islamic world. The proliferation of small states since the fall of communism has made Europe more stable and democratic, from Estonia to Macedonia. A sovereign Ko...

Reuters: Serbia should rally its armed forces, declare Kosovo 'occupied territory' and buy weapons from Russia to reclaim it, the head of the Serb Orthodox Church in Kosovo was quoted on Sunday as saying. "The statement by the chief of staff, General Zdravko Ponos, that Kosovo will not be defended by the army, is a disgrace," Bishop Artemije told the daily Glas Javnosti. "Serbia should buy state of the art weapons from Russia and other countries and call on Russia to send the volunteers and establish a military presence in Serbia," he said. "Kosovo was and always will be Serbian," the bishop said. The declaration of independence that its Albanian leaders are due to make later on Sunday means "a temporary state of occupation". "Everything will pass, and so will the occupation of Kosovo," the 73-year-old church leader added. Serbian commentator Bosko Jaksic said Artemije's outrage was predictable, as were a number of other exp...