Bush says time to grant Kosovo independence
RIA Novosti - June 10, 2007
MOSCOW, June 10 (RIA Novosti) - U.S. President George W. Bush said Sunday it was
time to grant Kosovo independence pursued by the Balkan region's Albanian
majority.
At a news conference in Albania Bush pledged further U.S. efforts to grant the
province independence from Serbia.
"Independence is the goal. That's what the people of Kosovo need to know," Bush
said. "We believe Kosovo ought to be independent."
Bush said he expected Russia, which has opposed to a UN vote on Kosovo's
internationally supervised sovereignty, to change its mind.
Putin reaffirmed his position on the issue in Russia Saturday while meeting with
Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, who said "seizing 15% of the
territory of a UN member state" would set a "severe precedent of violating
international law." Serbia has been strongly opposed to independence for Kosovo,
its historical and spiritual center for centuries.
Washington pushes for a UN vote this week on the plan for Kosovo drafted by
envoy Martti Ahtisaari.
Kosovo, which has a population of two million, has been a UN protectorate since
NATO's 78-day bombing campaign against the former Yugoslavia ended a war between
Serb forces and Muslim Albanian separatists in 1999.
President Bush was welcomed as a hero in Albania in contrast to protests that
accompanied him throughout his European tour this week - in Germany where he
attended a Group of Eight summit, in the Czech Republic and Poland, where he
discussed missile defense plans, and Italy, where he met with Pope Benedict XVI.
On Sunday, he reiterated that Russia's proposal at the G8 summit to use the
radar it rents in Azerbaijan together was logical and important as it implied
cooperation in missile defense. Bush said Washington was ready to discuss the
initiative.
President Putin said in Germany the radar station in the South Caucasus state
could be used instead of opening new facilities in Europe. He reiterated that
the U.S. missile defense plans, reportedly designed to counter possible attacks
from Iran and North Korea, were directed against a nonexistent threat, and would
jeopardize Russia's national security.
He earlier threatened to aim Russia's nuclear weapons on Europe, if Washington
deployed missile defenses on the continent.
Copyright 2007 RIA Novosti
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