(ANSA) - BELGRADE, FEBRUARY 17 - Kosovo celebrates today the
12th anniversary of the proclamation of independence from
Serbia, with official meetings and commemorative ceremonies for
those killed in the 'liberation war' against Belgrade forces in
the late 1990s. A special memory is dedicated to the first
president of independent Kosovo Ibrahim Rugova and Adem Jasarij,
one of the founders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), the
Albanian independence guerrilla who fought against the Serbs.
"Kosovo is now a factor of stability in the region, achieved
with a lot of work and many victims," said President Hashim
Thaci. "Kosovo - he added - has been freed from the occupation
and repression of Serbia" thanks to the KLA and with the support
of the "United States, European countries, the whole free and
democratic world, and the intervention of Nato".
Congratulatory messages on the anniversary of independence
were sent to the leaders in Pristina by American Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo and Albanian President Iljir Meta. Serbia's
stance is completely different. The government in Belgrade does
not recognize the independence Kosovo, continuing to consider
the country as Serbia's southern province inhabited by an
Albanian majority. Kosovo was recognized by a hundred countries
so far, including Italy, the US, and most western countries, but
not by Serbia, Russia, China, and five EU member states - Spain,
Greece, Romania, Cyprus, and Slovakia. (ANSA)
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