Pristina - The Nobel Peace Prize went to the right hands, said the premier of Kosovo, which declared independence on guidelines laid by the recipient, Finnish diplomat Martti Ahtisaari.

"The Nobel Peace Prize accorded to President Ahtisaari is a prize given to the right person, to the man ... who contributed so much for global peace and especially for the cause of Kosovo," Prime Minister Hashim Thaci told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa in Pristina.

Ahtisaari designed a framework for Kosovo's independence following the failure of talks between Pristina and Belgrade which he mediated in 2007 as a United Nations envoy.

Serbia, which insists on sovereignty over Kosovo, angrily rejected the Ahtisaari plan, but Pristina and the West embraced it as the groundwork for the period after the province's secession.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in February and was since recognized by 53 nations, including the United States and most European Union countries. dpa