Kosovo Albanians were in jubilant mood as they celebrated independence day, an event they had been eagerly anticipating for years.
But as the celebrations wind down, the diplomatic complications begin. There is much debate among international legal experts and diplomats about whether independence for Kosovo sets a bad precedent for other secessionist movements around the world.
Russia in particular has argued that Kosovo's declaration of independence could give the lead to pro-Russian separatists in the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia to break away and demand international recognition.
A number of EU countries such as Spain, with its Basque problem, are uncomfortable with Kosovo's declaration and are unlikely to rush into recognition, which is backed strongly by Britain and the US.
But we should not forget the human drama that lay at the heart of the desire for independence. The New York Times has a compelling audio slideshow by photographer Andrew Testa and reporter Nicholas Wood on the origins of the conflict and the brutalities carried out by Serbian troops.
At one point, Testa tells how the Serbs tried to hide the evidence of massacres by taking bodies out Kosovo in container lorries. Some drivers, however, lost their nerve and dumped their containers into rivers or lakes. But they did not sink as the containers were hermetically sealed.
The reaction in Belgrade, where the government is adamantly opposed to independence, was low-key, with some minor rioting and windows broken. Belgrade 2.0 has videos of the rumpus. Jasmina Tesanovic, a Serbian political activist, hopes Kosovo's independence marks the start of a new era.
"May our children never have another war with their neighbours just because they speak a different language and have a different sign on their graves," she writes. "The Balkans have always been a multiethnic territory. No matter who wins the battle, nobody will be able to win a war."
