LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Kosovo
built 70 days ago
The independence of Kosovo is an historic step for the Balkans region. It presents an opportunity to move beyond the conflicts of the past and toward a future of freedom and stability and peace. The United States and the European Union must seize this opportunity to offer all the nations of this region the prospect of integration into the political, economic and security structure of the Euro Atlantic community. In this way, all the people of the Balkans will be able to see the promise of a better life for themselves and for their children.
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Kosovo was part of the Ottoman Empire from 1455 to 1912, at first as part of the eyalet of Rumelia, and from 1864 as a separate province. Ottoman influence included gradual Islamisation with them, particularly in towns.
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Although Kosovo has important deposits of lead and zinc, as well as significant deposits of lignite, chromites, and magnesite, the province has long been one of the poorest regions in Europe. Major crops of Kosovo include grains (maize, wheat, and barley), potatoes, plums, grapes, and tobacco, and timber is an important product. There are ... horticulture and viticulture industries. Cattle and sheep are raised in Kosovo's highlands. Principal manufactures include cement and sulphuric acid. The Deutschmark replaced the Yugoslav dinar as the province’s currency in 1999.
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Kosovo has one of the most under-developed economies in Europe, with a per capita income estimated at €1,565 (2004). Despite substantial development subsidies from all Yugoslav republics, Kosovo was the poorest province of Yugoslavia. Additionally, over the course of the 1990s a blend of poor economic policies, international sanctions, poor external commerce and ethnic conflict severely damaged the economy.
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On 17 February, Kosovo pledged complete implementation of the Ahtisaari plan, inviting the EU immediately to deploy its new missions, and NATO to keep its force (KFOR) there. Much else remains to be done. NATO, UNMIK and Kosovo institutions must agree on a security plan to ensure a peaceful transition. Pristina is now unveiling and passing the laws necessary to implement the Ahtisaari plan. Considerable planning and liaison is required within the EU, between the Quint and Pristina, and between advance elements of the missions and Kosovo authorities to ensure that all know the post-independence division of responsibilities. The elected government and its institutions, not the missions, must be UNMIK’s primary successors, but those missions must be accepted to have the discretionary power to monitor and supervise as Ahtisaari envisaged even without a clear Security Council mandate.
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The Hindu 4/13/99 Sriprakash Loya "...Sir, The refugees fleeing Kosovo are being accepted by the European countries. The U.S. and Canada have ... agreed to accept them. Even far-flung Australia, which traditionally has been averse to any such influx, has welcomed 4,000 refugees on its soil. All these first world countries have been magnanimous towards these refugees. But, recollect the fate of the recent refugees from Kurdistan, Afghanistan and Northern Algeria. Go back a few years and think of the boat people accepted by none.
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