Russia warned of Kosovo partition

The News and Observer ^ | 3/5/08 | Edith M. Lederer

[Serb29]

UNITED NATIONS - Kosovo's declaration of independence has led to the "de-facto partitioning" of the Serb-dominated north from the rest of the territory - just as Russia repeatedly warned would happen, Russia's U.N. ambassador said Tuesday.

While ethnic Albanians account for nearly 90 percent of Kosovo's 2 million people, Serbs dominate a number of enclaves and a large part of northern Kosovo. They have refused to recognize any separation from Serbia, with daily protests taking place in the northern city of Kosovska Mitrovica.

Russian envoy Vitaly Churkin said Moscow has been saying "quite openly" inside and outside the U.N. Security Council that an independence declaration "might lead to de-facto partitioning of Kosovo."

That's "because it was quite obvious that Serbs in Kosovo were not about to accept unilateral declaration of independence," Churkin said in a news conference.

"So this is exactly what is happening there," he said. "De facto, we see the situation on the ground, and it is a direct consequence of the unilateral declaration of independence."

[Serb29]

They protest in Mitrovica every day....every day at 12:44pm, on the dot.

"It is the duty of a citizen not only to observe the law but to let it be known that he is opposed to its violation." - Calvin Coolidge

[longtermmemmory]

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[Cacique]

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