Gun shots, car horns and firecrackers rang out across the snowy streets here yesterday as Kosovo declared itself the newest nation in the world.

Tens of thousands of ethnic Albanians burst into wild cheers and sobs of joy as they listened to their parliament declare Kosovo “an independent, democratic and sovereign state”.

“From today onwards Kosovo is proud, independent and free,” said Hashim Thaci, the Prime Minister and former leader of the guerrilla army that took on Serbian troops in a war for independence, ultimately won for them by Nato’s intervention. “We never lost faith in the dream that one day we would stand among the free nations of the world and today we do.”

The most deafening cheers were saved for the moment he lashed out at Serbia, whose brutal repression of Kosovo’s Albanians led directly to this day of celebration, declaring: “We will never be ruled by Belgrade again.”

Serbia denounced the proclamation as illegal and lashed out at those sending Kosovo good wishes. A cascade of formal recognitions is expected in the next week.

Thousands of protesters besieged the US Embassy in Belgrade, chanting “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia”. Thirty people, half of them police, were reported injured as crowds clashed with security forces. In Mitrovica, the Kosovo Serb stronghold, three hand grenades were thrown at UN buildings, causing minor damage.

Serbian denunciations were echoed by Russia. Dimitri Churkin, Russia’s UN Ambassador, failed in an attempt to have Kosovo’s independence declared null and void by the Security Council last night. Russia has also hinted at retaliatory backing for separatist states in Western-leaning Georgia.

Aware of the rift Kosovo’s status has opened up in Europe, Serbia sought to exploit divisions, claiming that the United States had humiliated the European Union into accepting its pro-independence stance.

Greece, Spain and Bulgaria are expected to delay recognition, and Slovakia and Cyprus announced yesterday that they would not recognise Kosovo at all.

Vojislav Kostunica, the Serbian Prime Minister, thundered in a televised address to the nation: “The destructive, cruel and immoral policy of force led by the United States has brought about this unprecedented lawlessness. Serbia has refused to be humiliated and obey force.”

Pristina sought to calm the fears of its dwindling Serb minority, while Belgrade said that it would bolster its official presence in the ethnically Serb north of Kosovo, raising fears of a formal attempt to partition the territories off from the new state. Nato, which has held the peace in Kosovo since the 1999 war, redeployed thousands of peacekeepers to Mitrovica and its surroundings, the most dangerous flashpoint between the groups.

The British Ministry of Defence said last night that 600 Welsh Guards remained on standby to fly to Kosovo. One report said that a group of uniformed Serbian former army reservists was stopped by Nato troops yesterday trying to cross into Kosovo from Serbia proper.

The mood in the Serbian north of Pristina was one of mingled gloom and defiance. Sunday began for many with special services in Serbian Orthodox churches, some with prayers for peace and others with strident sermons against the amputation of the region held as the cradle of Serbia’s nation and church.

Mr Thaci earlier sought to allay the fears of Kosovo’s Serbs, whose population has dwindled to 100,000 from double that number before the Nato bombing campaign of 1999.

Parliament’s declaration yesterday was followed by the unveiling of the new Kosovan flag, an event that might have been equally historic had the jubilant crowds not been so keen to ignore it. The new flag depicts a yellow outline of Kosovo on a dark blue background, surrounded by six stars to represent its six ethnic groups. It was the work of a committee forced to come up with something to replace the red and black standard of neighbouring Albania, used by the Kosovo Liberation Army and universally accepted by ethnic Albanians as the flag of Kosovo.

The independence carnival began early. Two rival Pristina bakeries went head to head to create the perfect birthday cake for the new nation. Free beer, donated by the Peja brewery, had already begun to flow even before Mr Thaci called legislators to parliament to begin the emergency independence debate. Mother Teresa Street, named after the world’s most famous Albanian, filled up with ethnic Albanians pouring in from all over Kosovo, and the world, to join in the party. Friday’s flight from London was packed with people who had paid more than £700 each for their tickets, nearly four times the usual fare.

Fatmir Dauti, a member of Macedonia’s Albanian minority, drove with friends to Pristina for the party. “I did not want to come, my heart wanted to come,” he said. “We are Albanians and we are brothers.” Others flooded in from the countryside. “We’ve been waiting for this day for centuries,” Kadir Ibrahim, who travelled 40 miles from his village, said. “We will be free.”

Ancient hatreds, still vibrant, were never far away. One local newspaper, Express, adorned its front page with a trio of Serbian leaders and the headline: “F*** U.”

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