Kosovo has formally declared its independence

[Cal]

From cnn.com

PRISTINA, Kosovo (CNN) -- Kosovo's parliament meets Sunday afternoon to officially declare the province's independence from Serbia, a move opposed by Serbia and Russia but supported by many western governments.

CNN's Alessio Vinci, reporting from the Kosovar capital Pristina, said that the plan is for Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci to read out the independence declaration, which is written in Albanian, Serbian and English, to parliament before lawmakers pass it unanimously.

Vinci added that Kosovo's Albanian population were already singing and dancing in the streets as well as lighting firecrackers ahead of the much anticipated vote. "It's been like this for several hours now," he said.

President George Bush said Sunday that Kosovo's status must be resolved before the Balkans can become stable and that the United States supports the Ahtisaari plan which calls for a form of supervised independence.

The European Union decided Saturday to launch a mission of about 2,000 police and judicial officers to replace the United Nations mission that has been controlling the province since the end of the war with Serbia in 1999.

Finally.

What do you guys think?

In Pristina, an open-air concert will be held and a 1 and a half ton cake the shape of Kosovo will be presented.

[Eli]

I hope and think this will mean an improvement of the situation for the Balkan countries

[Cal]

Kosovo has formally declared its independence from Serbia and become the world’s newest state.

[yannick]

They deserve it. I just wish Serbia and Russia would accept it!

[John]

Can't see the Serbs being too impressed.

[Cal]

They deserve it. I just wish Serbia and Russia would accept it!

They sure do! Serbia and Russia are starting to annoy me now.

Can't see the Serbs being too impressed.

They aren't recognising it and neither is Russia. I don't know how they are going to deny it forever... it's fact now.

[yannick]

It is a fact yes, but unfortunately Russia can prevend the United Nations from recognizing the country

[Eli]

That's the weakness of the Security council... While it might work well in some situations each and every Security council member state's right to veto can also slow down a lot. Just take a look at the conflict in the Middle-East for example, I believe one of the members of the security council (France?) traditionally supports Palestine, but even a majority wouldn't be able to bring them any closer to solving anything, cause the US will always veto on something that isn't in favour of Israel.