Mixed emotions over Kosovo independence

The birth of the new state of Kosovo has been met with both jubilation and anger.Members of the former Yugoslav province's ethnic Albanian majority danced in the streets of the capital Pristina after the split from Serbia was announced.Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said in a statement: "We, the leaders of our people, democratically elected, through this declaration proclaim Kosovo an independent and sovereign state."But the creation of the world's 193rd independent country sparked violence from Serbian demonstrators.Protesters clashed with riot police after attacking the US embassy in the Serbian capital Belgrade.And hand-grenades were thrown at EU and UN buildings in Mitrovica in the north of Kosovo, where most of the territory's 120,000 Serbs live.A force of 600 British troops has been put on stand-by, ready to fly to Kosovo if widespread violence breaks out.Around 60 British police officers and judicial experts will form part of a 1,800-strong EU mission to help Kosovo with security, legal and customs issues during a 120-day handover period.The province has been run by Nato since foreign troops intervened to halt the war of independence that claimed about 10,000 civilian lives in 1998-99.Serbia has warned it will not recognise Kosovo as a sovereign state.And Russia called an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council in an apparently fruitless attempt to block international recognition of the new state.EU nations including Britain, France and Germany will recognise Kosovo's sovereignty at a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday.© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.

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ITN | February 17, 2008

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