In 2008, Al Jazeera went to Pristina to take the pulse of a newly-independent but politically fragile state.

Thousands of Serbs protested against

Kosovo's independence

In February 2008, Kosovo declared independence from Serbia.

It was a moment thousands had been waiting for since 1999 when Serbian security forces were driven out of the province after a NATO bombing campaign aimed at halting the violent repression of ethnic Albanian separatists.

Kosovo then became a UN protectorate. With independence declared, the long road towards nation-building began.

But with a weak economy and fragile political system, what was the future of this new country?

In 2008, Samah El-Shahat went to Pristina to examine the wider implications of the declaration and how the country can survive politically and economically.

Click here to watch the 2008 in-studio discussion on YouTube

This episode of People & Power was first broadcast on Al Jazeera English in February 2008.

Source: Al Jazeera