KOSOVO'S president has insisted its independence is an "irrefutable reality" as the impoverished territory marked five years since it broke away from Serbia.
Relations have thawed with its long-time foe under EU-sponsored reconciliation talks that are key to Belgrade's bid to join the bloc, but tensions remain and daily life in Kosovo is still a struggle for many.
"The republic of Kosovo is an irrefutable reality and its independence is irreversible," President Atifete Jahjaga said in a televised address on Sunday.
Kosovo's star-studded flags fluttered along Pristina's main streets alongside the US Stars and Stripes as thousands of people gathered to watch a military parade by the Kosovo Security Force, trained by NATO as an emergency force.
"We are developing a clear vision of our Euro-Atlantic future," Jahjaga said of Kosovo's desire to join both the EU and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
Almost 100 countries - including the United States - have recognised Kosovo since ethnic Albanians proclaimed independence on February 17, 2008, almost a decade after the 1998-1999 conflict that ended with a NATO bombing campaign against late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic's forces.
US Secretary of State John Kerry called on the authorities to keep "building stronger democratic institutions, advancing new economic opportunities, promoting the rule of law, and reinforcing Kosovo's European integration path".
Belgrade still considers the region its southern province, but the EU-led talks that began in March 2011 have led to a thaw, and the two presidents held their first talks in Brussels on February 6.
With Serbia's EU membership dependent on improving ties with Pristina, Prime Minister Ivica Dacic hinted last month Belgrade may give up its opposition to Kosovo's long-held goal of joining the United Nations.
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