Kosovo's leaders on Monday signed the new nation's constitution, saying it bolsters the legitimacy of their break with Serbia while protecting minority rights for Serbs, according to DPA. More than 30 countries have recognized Kosovo's February 17 declaration of independence, and the former Serb province's leaders have been intent on locking in the symbols of statehood. "This is a fundamental act for Kosovo," Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said at the ceremony in the capital Pristina. "Today we are giving legitimacy to our act of declaration of the independent, sovereign and democratic Republic of Kosovo," he said. The constitution of Europe's newest nation takes effect June 15. Modelled partly on the US constitution, it offers guarantees for Serb residents in a country with an overwhelming ethnic Albanian majority. Kosovo is "a state of free citizens that will guarantee the rights of every citizen, civil freedoms and equality of all citizens before the law," the preamble says.
