Post by tripwire on Feb 18, 2008 22:21:20 GMT -5
NYC Parade for Kosova Indpendence
NYC Kosova Parade
;D ;D
Independence stirs New York Kosovars
BY BILL EGBERT
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Monday, February 18th 2008, 4:00 AM
Revelers in Times Square hang from car windows Sunday, celebrating Kosovo's independence from Serbia.
As Kosovo declared independence from Serbia Sunday, many American flags flew in the grateful capital of Pristina - but in Times Square, ecstatic Kosovars waved their newly free nation's adopted flag to celebrate.
In the hours after the official announcement - hailed by the West but vehemently opposed by Serbia and its ally Russia - cars flying the red banner with a black eagle converged on Times Square, circling the block in a hooting, honking independence day parade.
The flag, actually neighboring Albania's, came to symbolize the struggle of ethnic Albanian Kosovars through the 1990s.
"There is nothing to compare to this day," said a joyous Sabri Ahmeti, 29, literally wrapping himself in the Kosovar flag. "It is beyond once-in-a-lifetime - it's once ever."
Kosovo, until Sunday part of Serbia, fought a decade-long insurgency in the 1990s against a campaign of ethnic cleansing meant to purge the province of its majority ethnic Albanians.
The conflict culminated in an American-led NATO bombing campaign that forced a Serbian withdrawal and established Kosovo's de facto independence as a NATO protectorate.
"We were still there when the [NATO] bombing started," said Ahmeti, whose family fled Serbian persecution nine years ago. "At that point, we couldn't imagine a day like this. All we could think of was how to escape."
"We were hoping to get support from the U.S.," said Mifail Cakolli, 27, "and the product of that shows today."
American support for the unilateral move could spark a renewed Cold War, warned Russian diplomats, who called an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council yesterday in response.
U.S. and European members of the council expressed support for Kosovo's independence, and foreign ministers of European Union nations will meet today to consider a formal reaction.
Meanwhile, across town, young women and graying men leaned out of car windows and sunroofs, waving Albanian flags and banners reading "Republica Kosova."
www.nydailynews.com/news/2008/02/18/2008-02-18_independence_stirs_new_york_kosovars-1.html
NYC Kosova Parade
;D ;D
Independence stirs New York Kosovars
BY BILL EGBERT
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Monday, February 18th 2008, 4:00 AM
Revelers in Times Square hang from car windows Sunday, celebrating Kosovo's independence from Serbia.
As Kosovo declared independence from Serbia Sunday, many American flags flew in the grateful capital of Pristina - but in Times Square, ecstatic Kosovars waved their newly free nation's adopted flag to celebrate.
In the hours after the official announcement - hailed by the West but vehemently opposed by Serbia and its ally Russia - cars flying the red banner with a black eagle converged on Times Square, circling the block in a hooting, honking independence day parade.
The flag, actually neighboring Albania's, came to symbolize the struggle of ethnic Albanian Kosovars through the 1990s.
"There is nothing to compare to this day," said a joyous Sabri Ahmeti, 29, literally wrapping himself in the Kosovar flag. "It is beyond once-in-a-lifetime - it's once ever."
Kosovo, until Sunday part of Serbia, fought a decade-long insurgency in the 1990s against a campaign of ethnic cleansing meant to purge the province of its majority ethnic Albanians.
The conflict culminated in an American-led NATO bombing campaign that forced a Serbian withdrawal and established Kosovo's de facto independence as a NATO protectorate.
"We were still there when the [NATO] bombing started," said Ahmeti, whose family fled Serbian persecution nine years ago. "At that point, we couldn't imagine a day like this. All we could think of was how to escape."
"We were hoping to get support from the U.S.," said Mifail Cakolli, 27, "and the product of that shows today."
American support for the unilateral move could spark a renewed Cold War, warned Russian diplomats, who called an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council yesterday in response.
U.S. and European members of the council expressed support for Kosovo's independence, and foreign ministers of European Union nations will meet today to consider a formal reaction.
Meanwhile, across town, young women and graying men leaned out of car windows and sunroofs, waving Albanian flags and banners reading "Republica Kosova."
www.nydailynews.com/news/2008/02/18/2008-02-18_independence_stirs_new_york_kosovars-1.html