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Pristina, Serbia: Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on Sunday, ending a long chapter in the bloody breakup of Yugoslavia.
Serbia responded immediately by calling its mainly Albanian breakaway province a false state and condemning the United States for supporting it.
The proclamation was made by leaders of Kosovo's 90 per cent ethnic Albanian majority, including former guerrillas who fought for independence in a 1998-99 war which claimed about 10,000 civilian lives.
"We, the leaders of our people, democratically elected through this declaration, proclaim Kosovo an independent and sovereign state," said the text read out in parliament by Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci. "This declaration reflects the will of the people."
All 109 deputies present at the session in the capital Pristina voted in favour with a show of hands. Eleven deputies from ethnic minorities, including Serbs, were absent.
Kosovo is "an independent, sovereign and democratic state", parliament speaker Jakup Krasniqi announced after the vote.
Jubilant Kosovars in the snow-covered city had begun celebrating the night before in advance.
But in Belgrade, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica branded the southern region "a false state" in a televised address to his nation just minutes after the vote in Pristina.
He said Kosovo was propped up unlawfully by the United States which was "ready to violate the international order for its own military interests".
Serbs vow never to give up the territory, in which their history goes back 1,000 years, but which has been a ward of the United Nations for nearly nine years. They can do little to stop it, but their one big-power ally Russia stood by them.
Russia said it was calling for UN Security Council consultations over the independence declaration.
The West supports the demand of Kosovo's 2 million ethnic Albanians for their own state, nine years after Nato went to war to save them from Serbian forces.
Kosovo will be the sixth state carved from the former Serbian-dominated Yugoslav federation since 1991, after Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Montenegro.
It will be the world's 193rd independent country but Serbia says it will never win a seat at the United Nations.
Serbs in the north of Kosovo will reject independence, cementing an ethnic partition that will weigh on the new state for years to come.
At a glance
- Geography: Kosovo covers about 10,900 square kilometres, roughly the size of Belgium, and borders Albania and Macedonia.
- Population: About 2 million. 90% are ethnic Albanian; most are Muslims, and the rest are Catholics. The remaining 10% are mainly Orthodox Christian Serbs.
- Status: Kosovo has been run by the UN and Nato since 1999 when Nato launched an air war to end a Serb military crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists.
- History: Kosovo, the site of an epic battle between Serbs and Turks in 1389, is considered hallowed ground by the Serbs and the birthplace of their identity. Ethnic Albanians say they are descendants of the ancient Ilyrians, who were Kosovo's first inhabitants.
- What next: Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leadership is counting on swift recognition from the US and key European powers such as Britain, France and Germany. Serbia, backed by Russia, fiercely opposes the bid and has vowed to block it at the UN Security Council.
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