The United States opened an embassy in Kosovo’s capital Pristina on April 8, Serbian and Kosovar news agencies reported, citing a US statement.

The embassy is headed by Tina Kaidanow as charge d’affaires. She said that the embassy had been opened on the recommendation of US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice.

Kosovo president Fatmir Sejdiu said that Kosovo had a long history of special relations with the US, “cultivated and strengthened during the most difficult times in the existence of the people of Kosovo”.

Kosovo prime minister Hashim Thaci said that the opening of the US embassy was “a magnificent deed”.

The news website of Kosova Live said that in opening the embassy, Washington was “proving the commitment of Washington towards the state of Kosova, for which they gave a special contribution before and after the war as well for the international recognition of Kosova’s independence”.

Beta news agency said that the first US mission in Kosovo was established in June 1996 as a cultural and informational centre of the US embassy in Belgrade.

Immediately after June 1999 and the conclusion of the Nato bombing of the then-Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, a special office for Kosovo was opened in Pristina, headed by a person in effect acting as an ambassador, the news agency said.

According to website kosovathanksyou.com, the number to countries to have recognised Kosovo’s independence was 36 out 192 UN member states. Of the 27 European Union states, 18 had recognised Kosovo as independent.