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Kosovo adopts a new constitution
Posted on: April 9, 2008
- In: Kosovo | new constitution | Pristina | Russia | Secretary General | Serbia | U.N
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Kosovo’s parliament has adopted a new constitution, almost two months after unilaterally declaring independence from Serbia.
The charter pledges to build a state protecting minorities such as the Serbs who vehemently oppose Kosovo’s split.
The text is to come into force on 15 June when the UN is due to complete a handover of powers to the new state.
In Belgrade, Serbian Minister for Kosovo Slobodan Samardzic called the charter’s adoption an “illegal act”.
The new constitution was unanimously approved at a special session of Kosovo’s parliament in Pristina on Wednesday.
‘Equal society’
President Fatmir Sejdiu said the document signalled the fledgling state’s commitment to creating an equal society.
“Serbs are the citizens of Kosovo. This constitution is also theirs,” he told reporters.
Kosovo is likely to be on the agenda in Russia’s talks with the UN’s chief
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“We want them to be an important foundation and a bridge for the future better relations with the state of Serbia.”
The move paves the way for Kosovo to take over from the UN mission which has administered the disputed territory since the end of its 1998-1999 conflict.
The EU will be helping to oversee independence with a 2,000-strong police supervisory mission in Kosovo.
Kosovo’s declaration of independence in February has been recognised by almost 40 countries, including the US and most of the EU.
But Russia has stood by its traditional ally, Serbia, in opposing the move.
The charter adoption comes as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon makes an official visit to Moscow. Kosovo is likely to be high on the talks agenda.
- In: Chinese | Crack Down | Fight | Lhasa | Tibetan | U.N
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Police arrest a Tibetan protester in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu March 17, 2008. Tibetan refugees in Nepal demand justice in front of the U.N. office in Kathmandu. regarding the crackdown on Tibetans by Chinese authorities. (Gopal Chitrakar/Landov)
Protests and killing spread across Tibet today, in defiance of the Chinese government’s crackdown on the protests in Lhasa that began more than a week ago on the 49th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule.
There were protests today across the Tibetan plateau, including in the Tibetan Autonomous Region, Kham and Amdo.
Although official figures are not are available, more than 100 people are believed to have been killed in the largest anti-government protests in nearly two decades, according to the Tibetan government in exile.
Initially, the Lhasa protests came in response to the imprisonment of Tibetan Buddhist monks, but as the protests have expanded across the region, they also encompassed a growing number of problems that affect all the Tibetan communities, including cultural, economic and religious issues.
The fact that the protests are spreading to towns and villages is a significant development.
“If it’s happening in bigger places, that’s understandable. But if it’s going to start to spread to smaller rural villages and then towns, then they’re really in trouble,” said Robert Barnett, a professor of contemporary Tibetan studies at Columbia University.
“The next question is whether the protests continue, knowing that there is a high level of shooting death,” he said. “If the protests go on beyond that point, that’s a very serious indicator that people are questioning if the Chinese have earned the position that they’ve taken to be the rulers.”
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said at a news conference today that the uprisings were orchestrated by supporters of the Dalai Lama. He told China’s annual legislative session that the government had acted with extreme restraint in putting down the protests.
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