Kosovo to declare independence, backed by the West
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The last time Kosovo declared  independence in 1990 it went unrecognized and ignored. When it  splits from Serbia this weekend, it will have the support of  the West, which sees no way back.
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United Nations special envoy Martti Ahtisaari on Friday handed to Serb authorities his plan for the future of Kosovo that will set the breakaway province on a path to independence.
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PRISTINA, Serbia  - Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said on Friday about 100 countries were ready to recognize the province's independence from Serbia as soon as it was declared.
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European Union leaders agreed on  Friday to send administrators and police to Kosovo ahead of an  expected declaration of independence from Serbia.
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Europe's big countries and the US formally acknowledge Kosovo's independence
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Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim  Thaci said on Friday about 100 countries were ready to  recognize the province's independence from Serbia as soon as it  was declared.
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U.S. President George W. Bush said on Sunday the United Nations should grant independence quickly to the breakaway Serbian province of Kosovo, and if Russia continued to block it then the West would act.
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Kosovo MPs back a coalition government led by Hashim Thaci, who is pushing for independence.
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Key facts about Kosovo, which is preparing to declare independence from Serbia:
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PRAGUE, Jan 26 (IPS) - The possibility of Kosovo gaining independence has  sparked a debate in minorities-ridden central-eastern Europe on  whether the Serbian region could set a precedent in prioritising  the right to self-determination over state sovereignty.
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The United States and Europe's big powers -- Britain, France, Italy and Germany -- said Monday they would recognise Kosovo's declaration of independence, despite staunch opposition from some other EU members.
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PRISTINA, Serbia  - Kosovo looked forward on Monday to recognition by the Western powers who went to war to save its Albanian majority, but Russia served notice the new state will never be forced on its Serb allies in the territory.
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Russia suggested Friday that Kosovo's expected Western-backed declaration of independence from Serbia will affect its policy on two separatist regions in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. But it stopped short of saying it would recognize the breakaway provinces.
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President George W. Bush said on Sunday the United Nations should grant independence quickly to the breakaway Serbian province of Kosovo, and that if Russia continued to block it the West would act.
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VIANA DO CASTELO, Portugal  - European Union states will seek to maintain a common front over the breakaway Serbian province of Kosovo on Saturday, amid growing concern that it will declare independence unilaterally.
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Kosovo Albanians told the West on  Friday to stop wasting time trying to win over Russia to the  province&#39;s secession from Serbia and prepare for a unilateral  declaration of independence.
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Serbia is telling Serbs in Kosovo to ignore an Albanian declaration of independence early next year, raising the prospect of an ethnic partition of the breakaway province that the West has long ruled out. via Reuters