Albanian Immigrants in Philadelphia Hear News of Kosovo’s Declaration of Independence this Morning
In significant news for the many Albanians immigrants living in the Philadelphia area, Kosovo's regional parliament declared independence from Serbia earlier this morning, with parliament Speaker Jakup Krasniqi announcing that "Kosovo is a republic, an independent, democratic and sovereign state."
According to the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians, while there is no official U.S. Census estimate on the number of Albanian immigrants in the Philadelphia area, clearly there are many. They often settle first in Philadelphia’s Fishtown section but then often move out towards the Northeast section of the city as well as in Upper Darby, Media and the Warminster-Doyleston area.
Kosovo's ethnic Albanians account for 90 percent of the population in Kosovo and the United States has supported the "supervised independence" for Kosovo. Of course, Serbia immediately called the declaration illegal.
As I write this post, the situation is very fluid with Kosovo waiting for friendly nations to begin recognizing its legitimacy and with Russia planning to argue to the UN that the independence declaration is illegal. Already there appears to have been a bombing at a UN building in Mitrovica which is a city in Kosovo's north that is divided between Serbs and ethnic Albanians.
