Newborn Kosovo
In 2008, Al Jazeera went to Pristina to take the pulse of a newly-independent but politically fragile state.
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| Thousands of Serbs protested against Kosovo’s independence |
In February 2008, Kosovo declared independence from Serbia.
It was a moment thousands had been waiting for since 1999 when Serbian security forces were driven out of the province after a NATO bombing campaign aimed at halting the violent repression of ethnic Albanian separatists.
Kosovo then became a UN protectorate. With independence declared, the long road towards nation-building began.
But with a weak economy and fragile political system, what was the future of this new country?
In 2008, Samah El-Shahat went to Pristina to examine the wider implications of the declaration and how the country can survive politically and economically.
Click here to watch the 2008 in-studio discussion on YouTube
This episode of People & Power was first broadcast on Al Jazeera English in February 2008.