Incident

Home page

Incident

Afghanistan becomes the first to recognize Kosovo

18 February 2008 17:16 (UTC +04:00)

Serbia vowed to block the territory that it still claims from joining any world body and launched criminal actions against Kosovoâ€™s leaders for making Sundayâ€™s declaration of independence.
Many countries from China, to Russia and Spain have expressed opposition to Kosovoâ€™s independence but its Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said he was confident countries would soon recognise the new state.
"Together with the president, we have sent a request to all the governments in the world for the recognition of sovereign and independent Kosovo," he told the first cabinet meeting held since the declaration.
"We expect the first recognitions in the coming hours," Thaci added.
US President George W. Bush said he now considered Kosovo independent though formal recognition would have to wait.
"The Kosovars are now independent. Itâ€™s something Iâ€™ve advocated along with my government," Bush, who is on a tour of Africa, said in an interview with NBC television.
Afghanistan became the first to officially recognise Kosovo, in a foreign ministry statement that spoke of the need to respect the "will of the people".
EU foreign ministers met in Brussels to respond to Kosovoâ€™s split from Serbia, which sparked wild celebrations in Pristina but riots in Belgrade.
Spain -- which has long struggled with Basque separatists -- immediately announced it would not recognise Kosovo and Germany cast doubt on whether even Europeâ€™s major powers would immediately give their stamp of approval.
Britain, France, Germany and Italy, along with the United States, had been expected to announce their intention to recognise Kosovo. But Germanyâ€™s Chancellor Angela Merkel said her government would make no decision on Monday.
The EUâ€™s Slovenian presidency said "many" European nations are still set to recognise Kosovo, though there could be no joint EU recognition.
"Recognition is not a matter for the EU as a whole. Itâ€™s member states who will decide," he added.
Serbiaâ€™s President Boris Tadic travelled to New York to address the UN Security Council and Serbiaâ€™s parliament was to meet in special session to "annul" the independence declaration.
Violence flared across Serbia in the hours after the declaration with angry protestors stoning the Belgrade embassies of the United States and Slovenia, current EU president.
Chanting "Kosovo is the heart of Serbia," the mobs smashed windows of two McDonaldâ€™s restaurants and the US embassy before police used tear gas, rubber bullets and batons to disperse them.
More than 5,000 protesters, including many students, gathered in central Belgrade on Monday for a new peaceful demonstration.
Other protests were to be held in the Kosovo towns of Mitrovica, Gracanica and Strpce, and Banja Luka, the main town in the Serb-run Bosnian entity of Republika Srpska.
Four grenades were thrown at buildings housing the UN and the EU missions in Mitrovica during the night, said police, but only one exploded and there were no reported injuries.
Serbiaâ€™s leaders say they will stop Kosovo joining the United Nations and other world bodies and take unspecified diplomatic measures against countries that recognise Kosovoâ€™s independence.
Serbian police also filed criminal charges against Kosovo leaders for "organising the proclamation of a phoney state on Serbian territory," the interior ministry said.
The UN Security Council has not recognised Kosovoâ€™s independence and Russia was to make a new attempt Monday to make the council oppose the declaration.
China, like Russia a permanent member of the security council, on Monday became the latest major power to express "grave concern" over Kosovoâ€™s declaration, which has triggered new tensions between the Chinese and Taiwanese governments.
"The unilateral move taken by Kosovo will lead to a series of consequences. China is deeply worried about its severe and negative impact on peace and stability in the Balkan region," foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said.
Long-time rival Taiwan warmly welcomed the independence declaration.
"In no way should the independence of one nation be denied by another," said the foreign ministry in Taiwan, which has also struggled to gain international recognition. China claims Taiwan is a renegade province which should be reunited with the mainland.
Russia has said that Kosovoâ€™s independence could serve as a precedent for the separatist provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in neighbouring Georgia.
Other countries have also expressed fears of Kosovo setting off a domino effect.
Romanian President Traian Basescu said the declaration of independence was an "illegal" act.