Kosovo sets Albania’s Nov. 28 independence day as a holiday

PRISTINA, Kosovo – Kosovo’s government has decided to declare Nov. 28, the independence day of neighbouring Albania, a national holiday, a move that may spark an angry reaction from Serbia.

A government statement Thursday said that Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj declared Nov. 28 as the “day of Albanians … to respect historic and cultural values and good family and social traditions.”

Kosovo’s 1.8 million population is predominantly ethnic Albanian. It detached from Yugoslavia following a three-month NATO air war in 1999 to stop a bloody Serbian crackdown against ethnic Albanian separatists. Its 2008 unilateral independence from Serbia is recognized by 114 states but not by Serbia.

Albania and Kosovo have never said they aim to unify into a Greater Albania.