Kosovo marks 10th anniversary of independence from Serbia Saturday Feb 17,2018

 

Kosovo on Saturday  Feb 17,2018 celebrates 10 years since it declared independence, a moment of pride for its ethnic Albanian majority, although sovereignty remains fiercely contested by Serbia.

 Home to 1.8 million people, Kosovo is one of the poorest parts of Europe and hugely dependent on remittances from its diaspora to drive economic growth of around four percent.

The capital Pristina is covered in the blue-and-yellow Kosovan flag for a weekend of festivities, with Kosovo-born British pop star Rita Ora due to headline a concert in the main square on Saturday night.

A decade after a war between Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian rebels and Serbian troops left 13,000 people dead most of them Albanians the Kosovan parliament declared independence from Serbia on February 17, 2008.

“It was the happiest moment for all of us as a people,” said President Hashim Thaci in a statement on Friday, as children in Kosovo’s Albanian schools began the day with lessons dedicated to the anniversary

This was not the case in the completely separate schooling system of Kosovo’s Serb minority, which remains loyal to Belgrade. Children from the two ethnic communities rarely mix.

Although more than 110 countries have recognised Kosovo as a state in the past 10 years, Belgrade refuses to do so.

The “normalisation” of ties between Belgrade and Pristina is crucial to both sides’ bids to join the European Union, but Serbian officials say recognition of independence is a red line.

“Serbia will not recognise Kosovo and it will especially not recognise it in order to become an EU member,” Serbian Defence Minister Aleksandar Vulin said

The former foes have reached deals on issues such as freedom of movement since talks began in 2011, but the EU-brokered dialogue has stalled over the past two years.