Kosovo independence bid raises tensions
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Young men clad in black track suits keep a close watch over the bridge that divides rival Kosovo Serbs and Albanians, just days before the province's anticipated declaration of independence from Serbia.
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"Serious negotiations are needed to protect the Serbs in Kosovo as well as our holy sites. Serious negotiations are needed to continue the international presence in Kosovo"  Serbia's minister for Kosovo suggested Saturday that the government will seek to keep control over Serb-populated areas after the predominantly ethnic Albanian province declares independence.Slobodan Samardzic said Friday that Belgrade had information indicating that Kosovo will unilaterally declare independence on Feb. 17.Western officials said they expected the move a day later, and Kosovo's prime minister, Hashim Thaci, did not confirm or deny Samardzic's statement but said Kosovo's split from Serbia was 'a done deal.' Read more
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VIENNA, March 10 -- A year of contentious talks on the future status of Kosovo ended Saturday in a bitter deadlock over a U.N. plan that would set the disputed Serbian province on the road to independence.
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Renewed ethnic tensions and uncertainty over final status talks overshadowed Kosovo&#39;s general election Saturday, the second in the province since the 1998-99 war between Serbian forces and ethnic Albanian separatists.
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Kosovo could soon be Europe's  newest independent state, but the Albanian majority in Serbia's  breakaway province still has to decide on a name, a flag and an  anthem.
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BELGRADE, Feb 20 (IPS) - The proclamation of independence in Kosovo has  brought widespread celebrations among its ethnic Albanians, but  also a realisation that economic difficulties remain â and could  worsen.
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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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New talks to decide the future of Serbia's breakaway province of Kosovo got under way on Thursday with a conciliatory tone from both sides, but no breakthrough on their fundamental disagreement over its independence.
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POTSDAM, Germany -- Foreign ministers from the Group of 8 countries clashed yesterday over the future of Kosovo after Russia warned that a United Nations plan to pave the way for independence from Serbia could encourage separatist movements in the Russian-backed regions of Ossetia and Abkhazia in Georgia.
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The United States and major European powers on Monday led an international rush to support Kosovo's declaration of independence but Serbia also gathered international backing for its opposition.
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Negotiations to determine whether Kosovo can be declared an independent state are still a year away.
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Many educated, under-30 Kosovars are eager for the possibility of an independent country.
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Kosovo mounts historic bid to become "independent and democratic state" backed by U.S., European allies but bitterly contested by Serbia, Russia.
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Major powers enmeshed in a diplomatic  tangle over the future of Serbia&#39;s breakaway Kosovo province  are trying to free themselves by prompting either the Serbs or  the Kosovo Albanians to propose partition.
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A pro-Western and a nationalist candidate faced off Sunday in a closely contested Serbian presidential race that could determine whether the troubled Balkan nation will move closer to the European Union or sink back into isolation.
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Kosovo's United Nations governor accused Serbia on Monday of undermining efforts to forge a multi-ethnic democracy in the province.
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Armenians vote for a new president Tuesday amid growing unease that Kosovo's declaration of independence could increase secessionist pressure in breakaway territories in the Caucasus and other former Soviet regions.