Balkans

PRISTINA, Serbia – The last time Kosovo declared independence in 1990 it went unrecognized and ignored. When it splits from Serbia this weekend, it will have the support of the West, which sees no way back.

Serbia’s breakaway Kosovo province is preparing to declare independence this weekend after eight years under United Nations stewardship. Here is a look at the main economic challenges facing the new state.

PRISTINA, Serbia – After a decade struggling to prove it deserves independence, Kosovo’s hardest task is still ahead: proving it can afford it.

MITROVICA, Serbia – There are some new faces in the Serb-controlled slice of northern Kosovo, the breakaway province where 2 million Albanians will declare independence from Serbia within days.

SARAJEVO – Police in Bosnia’s Serb Republic, an ally of Serbia, are on alert in case of unrest over the proclamation of Kosovo’s independence this week, local media reported on Tuesday.

BRUSSELS – The European Union is set to complete authorization of a big supervisory mission in Kosovo this week, just before the territory is expected to declare independence from Serbia, diplomats and EU officials said.

WASHINGTON – Finnish Foreign Minister Ilkka Kanerva said on Monday he was optimistic Europe’s main election watchdog will be able to stay in Kosovo, perhaps with a narrower mandate, if the region declares independence.

BROD, Serbia – The man introduced himself as the village historian, reaching into his jacket and producing a notebook scrawled with figures for Kosovo’s Gorani population.

MUNICH, Germany – Russia said on Sunday that Europe risked opening a “Pandora’s box” if it went ahead and recognized the independence of the breakaway Serbian province of Kosovo.

RACAK, Serbia – The massacre of 44 Kosovo Albanians by Serb security forces in this village nine years ago is a reminder of why Kosovo deserves independence from Serbia, says the U.S. diplomat who reported it to the world.