2010-02-22

Across Kosovo on Wednesday (February 17th), the public celebrated their second year of independence from Serbia with parades and speeches. The capital, Pristina, was filled with crowds waving the blue and yellow national flag. There were also sporting events and an evening concert in Mother Teresa Square downtown. "Kosovo is our state and we should work for the stability and the prosperity of this state," said Maxhun Kelmendi, a Pristina resident who turned out for the festivities. Kelmendi told Southeast European Times that being a citizen of Kosovo means working to make the country better.

"Kosovo has made much progress," said Kelmendi. "But of course we can't stop."Kelmendi's wife, Magbule, is optimistic. Holding flags of both Kosovo and Albania, she said "I am very happy today ... I am sure that on our next birthdays, we will have made more progress." "I am a citizen of Kosovo, but my nation is Albanian," said Magbule, explaining that the majority of Kosovo's citizens are, like her, Albanian. Yet, 24 months after declaring its independence from Serbia, Kosovo's national identity remains a delicate subject. "I think that we should have our [unique] identity," said Jashar Morina, a teacher living in Pristina. "If we participate in the future at the Olympics or [international] football games, we should take our blue flag."

2010-02-22

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have given strong support to a long-awaited oil pipeline on the drawing board since the early 1990s, said diplomatic sources in Athens on Wednesday (February 17th). The pipeline is expected to run from the Bulgarian town of Burgas on the Black Sea to Alexandroupolis in the northeast Aegean, bypassing the Bosporus Straits. Sources in the Greek foreign ministry blamed the most recent delays on "foot-dragging" by the new government in Sofia.

Papandreou, who also serves as Greece's foreign minister, told reporters after his meeting with Putin that Russia and Greece want to build the pipeline quickly. To succeed, they need the full co-operation of Bulgaria, where local authorities have expressed environmental concerns about the project. Elected officials, NGOs and environmental groups in Alexandroupolis have long expressed such fears, particularly the risks of a maritime spill. Alexandroupolis lies just west of the Maritsa-Evros River delta, a large tract of wetlands protected by the international Ramsar Treaty of 1971. Panpandreou said environmental concerns were a project priority for both Greece and Russia. Last week, municipality and prefectural officials in Alexandroupolis signed a contract with the local Democritus University for a committee to monitor the validity of environmental and scientific surveys linked with the pipeline's construction and operation.