Kosovo is
set to take key step towards full independence as the international authority
that has supervised the former Serbian province for more than four years wraps
up its work.
Representatives
of the 25 countries that make up the International Steering Group (ISG) were to
meet in Kosovo's capital, Pristina, for the last time on Monday to formally end
its supervision of the country.
The
chairman of the International Civilian Office, Peter Feith, and Kosovo's Prime
Minister Hashim Thaci are two of the key figures set to attend the meeting.
An ISG
statement said the decision to wind down its activities came due to the Kosovo
government's "clear support of a democratic and multi-ethnic state."
The vast
majority of Kosovo's population is ethnic-Albanian but there is also a small
minority of Serbs living mainly in the north, along the country's border with
Serbia.
The ISG,
which includes 23 European Union member countries as well as the United States
and Turkey, was set up shortly after Kosovo unilaterally declared independence
in early 2008. The ISG members are among the 89 countries that have recognized
Kosovo. Notably absent from that list however is Serbia, which says it will never
recognize its former province as an independent state.
Two days of
celebrations are to be kicked off with an open-air concert in Pristina's main
square on Monday evening.
Despite the
end of the ISG's mission, there will continue to be a major international
presence in the former Serbian province. Both the NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping
presence will remain in the country, as will the United Nations Interim
Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and the European law-enforcement
mission EULEX.
"In
reality, with EULEX, KFOR and UNMIK ... a different sort of supervision remains
in place - the mission changes its form, but the essence remains," Kosovo
analyst Illir Deda told Belgrade TV B92.
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