With the continued protests in Serbian and in other Serbian expat communities, you can help but wonder what does Kosovo mean to Serbia as the Serbs struggle with Kosovo's independence and the border begins creeping south. The Serbian government is calling for the US to annul Kosovo independence as Kosovo marks its first week of independence.
While most countries have responded to Kosovo, some are having difficulty deciding what to do. Switzerland's parliamentary committees have come out in favor of recognizing Kosovo but questions have been raised about the affect on relationships with Serbia and the country's famed neutrality. Canada still has not presented their position in Kosovo and some are arguing that Canadian recognition could backfire. So it seems that Kosovo recognition is a tricky question
As countries react to Kosovo's independence, there is a question of what happens next? Now that Kosovo has its state symbols, the authorities will be responsible for issuing their own passports to citizens. With some countries refusing to recognize Kosovo's independence, Kosovars are likely to face even more difficulties traveling abroad as citizens of the independent, mostly-recognized state than previously with the UN-issued documents.
It also appears that the honeymoon period for Kosovo's independence is over. The power situation was nearly 24/7 as promised by Kosovo PM Thaci following the declaration but over the weekend, the power started going off for short periods of 30 minutes to a couple of hours depending on location. The common joke is "I thought everything was going to be better after independence!" when the power goes out :)
MTCowgirl's Interesting Commentary/Articles
- Bush finally gets it right
- Young Serb killed in Embassy riot shared his nation's rage on Kosovo
- The Snake, Haschim Thaci, looks forward
- Blogging on Kosovo..., a summary of different blogs
- NATO's reign of terror in Kosovo
- Kosovo to compete in table tennis tournament as independence country
- USA may use Kosovo precedent to split Russia
- Kosovo's independence may haunt us
- Kosovo Independence, the oil factor
- Kosovo question should be seen as great human tragedy
- Kosovo Balkanizes Europe...Again
- Sliding backwards in Kosovo
- Russia will not use force over Kosovo
- Violence erupts in Vienna during anti-independence demonstration
- Kosovo survival dependent on other countries
- US Ambassador: This better not happen again
- EU withdrawl will not divide Kosovo
