Sweden’s Albanians celebrate Kosovo’s independence

Emotions ran high in many Swedish towns on Sunday as the country's Kosovar Albanian population celebrated Pristina's unilateral declaration of independence.

Published: 18 February 2008 08:51 CET

Some 40,000 Kosovans are estimated to have fled to Sweden from the war-torn ex-Yugoslav province in the late 1990s.

“This is unbelievable. I’ve been screaming, shouting, bouncing, jumping and laughing all day,” 52-year-old Zoja Stridh told news agency TT.

Standing outside the Albanian Association’s offices in Skärholmen on the outskirts of Stockholm, her eyes welled up and her voice was hoarse as she explained how Kosovo for 500 years had been subjected to Turkish and Serbian rule.

“But now our children can grow up in freedom,” she said.