Welcome Kosovo.

The world witnessed birth of a new state on Sunday. Kosovo after demanding independence for nearly three decades will now celebrate its independence day on 17th February. Created out of the ashes of Austria-Hungary's defeat in World War 1 the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes - changed to Yugoslavia in 1929 - was in theory a single autonomous state, but ethnic tensions were not far from the surface. After invasion and a series of overlapping civil wars in WWII, a lid was kept on national aspirations by the creation of a federation of six nominally equal republics. In Serbia, Kosovo and Vojvodina were given autonomous status. But from 1991 Yugoslavia fell apart.
A series of splits saw the bloodiest fighting in Croatia and Bosnia. Kosovo become a UN protectorate after inter-ethnic fighting and Nato bombardment in 1999. In 2003 Yugoslavia disappeared from the map of Europe. Replaced for a short time by the looser union of Serbia and Montenegro, the latter broke away in 2006. Two years later, Kosovo's majority ethnic Albanians declared independence from Serbia.
However the international community did not recognize its independent state. On 17th February 2008 the international community accepted the autonomous status of Kosovo. According to a report in BBC, Serbs and ethnic Albanians had vied for control in the region throughout the 20th Century.
While Serbs latterly only made up about 10% of the population, the historic and emotional importance of the province for them was enormous. Serbs consider Kosovo the cradle of their culture, religion and national identity. Another report in Washington Post says that, when Milosevic the Yugoslav President, harnessed resentment over Kosovan influence within the Yugoslav federation. At the same time, Serbs were complaining about persecution by the majority Albanians.
The ethnic clashes between Albanians and Kosovian Serbs, during the Kosovo war, made the intervention of Nato inevitable. The fight for independence in this state that has a majority of Albanians in it was continuing till the 17th of this year.
BBC reports that although the Serbians are upset about Kosovo’s moves any major variance between the two countries is not on the cards. However local conflicts are unavoidable.
Germany, Italy, France, UK, Austria, US, Turkey, Albania, Afghanistan have all recognized Kosovo as an independent state. Russia has warned that the move endangers international stability, while China has expressed its deep concern. Apart from Russia and China, Spain, Romania, Slovakia, Cyprus Spain, Romania, Slovakia, Cyprus are some of the countries who have refused to recognize it. UN is still confused about its view in this matter.
According to AFP, Russia also says that recognition of the province's independence could spark violent separatism elsewhere in the world, including in the Caucasus, where several conflicts simmer. Some European Union countries, including Spain, have expressed similar concerns.
Russian-backed separatist leaders of two enclaves in Georgia -- Abkhazia and South Ossetia -- released statements Sunday saying that they would soon seek recognition of their independence, citing Kosovo as a precedent.
According to Antoaneta Bezlova a analyst working with Inter Press Service (IPS), What Beijing fears is that the immediate recognition granted to Kosovo by major European countries and the U.S. may lead to Chinese minorities such as the Tibetans and the Uighurs in Xinjiang province pressing for greater autonomy. By casting a controversial vote to secede from Serbia, Kosovo is threatening to set up a precedent for China’s 56 recognised national minorities that occupy more than half of the country’s territory. In addition, there are special administrative regions as Hong Kong and Macao and the territory of Taiwan, which in theory have the same relationship to Beijing as Kosovo has to Belgrade.
Serbia on the other hand is very upset over this new development and still considers Kosovo a part of it. It has also declared that it will make it impossible for Kosovo to be a part of the UN council or any other international organization.
US on the other hand is supporting Kosovo and is looking forward to increasing its ties with the country, reports Washington Post. EU is going to send its troop in Kososvo to ensure stable situation in the country. It is also going to help it decide its constitution and help sun the country for some time. EU has in fact said that it may even consider offering Kosovo a European union membership.
Everyone is supporting or turning hostile towards the new independent state for its own personal interest. The world is divided in its view of this new country. Whether this opposition will sound the death knell for this country or the support help it in emerging as a strong economy remains to be seen. Kosovo meanwhile is moving ahead by the philosophy that "The past should not be forgotten, but it belongs to the past and should be forgiven," as reported by the newspaper Koha Ditore.