(12 Jun 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Pristina, Kosovo – 12 June 2024
1. Wide of Kosovo Security Force (KSF) parade in downtown Pristina
2. Close of KSF parade
3. Various of KSF parade, officials watching
4. Various of KSF parade
5. SOUNDBITE (Albanian) Albin Kurti, Kosovan Prime Minister:
“Kosovo’s liberation came with the help of NATO alliance members, who after they bombarded for 78 days Yugoslavia and Serbia of Slobodan Milosevic, entered Kosovo on the 12th of June 1999. On that day, NATO entered Kosovo and from that day on, we are closer to entering NATO.”
6. Kosovo flag
7. SOUNDBITE (Albanian) Vjosa Osmani, Kosovan President:
“Dear ally, the (military) forces that will parade today are forces of peace, they are in defence of peace, but today and forever they will be in defence of freedom won with blood. They will be today and forever under any conditions and at any cost in defence of Kosovo in every corner of it.”
8. Wide of ceremony
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ferizaj – 12 June 2024
9. Statue of former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair being unveiled
10. Close of statue
11. SOUNDBITE (Albanian) Agron Qosa, artist:
“For me, it is a very valuable thing that I was entrusted with the statue of Prime Minister Tony Blair. I worked with great will and pleasure.”
12. People taking photos with the statue
13. Various of statue
STORYLINE:
Kosovo on Wednesday celebrated what it considers a liberation day, marking the 25th anniversary of the withdrawal of Serb forces.
During the 1998-1999 war with ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army separatists, Serbian forces failed to meet Western demands on reconciliation, which pushed NATO to launch a 78-day bombing campaign against Serbia that resulted in its withdrawal.
About 13,000 people, mostly ethnic Albanians, died under Serbian repression. Some 1,600 are still missing.
Neighboring Serbia refuses to officially accept the independence its former province declared in 2008.
More than 100 countries have recognized Kosovo, including the U.S. and most other Western countries, but not Russia and China, which have shut it out of the United Nations.
Kosovo-Serbia ties have tumbled even further in the past year, and years of European Union-facilitated normalization talks have failed to make progress.
NATO-led peacekeepers have increased their numbers along the border.
Kosovo on Wednesday held a military parade with celebratory speeches.
A statue of former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, who visited Kosovo earlier this week, was unveiled on the occasion.
AP video shot by Florent Bajrami and Sylejman Kllokoqi
===========================================================
Clients are reminded to adhere to all listed restrictions and to check the terms of their licence agreements. For further assistance, please contact the AP Archive on: Tel +44(0)2074827482 Email: info@aparchive.com.
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/
You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/ca3f0d73ad1e498db12c2448af7df1cd
