Posted on 01/13/2003 11:12:12 AM PST by Dragonfly
US initiative for Kosovo independence | 12:23 | SENSE
WASHINGTON -- Monday – An initiative has been launched in the US Congress for the recognition of Kosovo’s independence.
The move is a renewal of efforts by leading members of the International Relations Committee.
The congressmen have proposed a House of Representatives resolution supporting Kosovo’s ambitions for independence as soon as “democratic self-government is developed and consolidated”.
As a first step in the path to an independent Kosovo, the resolution calls for the Administration to engage, together with the UN and the EU , in the establishment of efficient self-government and democracy in Kosovo.
The resolution also calls for measures to stop Kosovo supporting organised crime.
In its first reaction to the resolution, the State Department says it will be given “appropriate attention”.
Last year’s version didn’t get too far.
Someone should teach those clowns how to spell, too.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Javier Solana said last week that the final status of Kosovo will be determined under Security Council Resolution 1244, and that Belgrade and Pristina would take the main responsibility for the process.
The head of Belgrade’s Kosovo Coordination Centre, Nebojsa Covic, echoed his sentiments at a round table on Kosovo minorities, saying that to hasty a resolution of the issue could lead to political instability.
“Calls for the fastest possible resolution of the issue are classic politicking,” said Covic.
“What is Resolution 1244? Something which defines status. And what comprises status? Standards. Have we reached the standards prescribed by Resolution 12444?
“My personal opinion is that if we are talking about a particular outlook, particular positions, then we should speak about that when we have a new government,” said Covic.
Flying in the face of the facts Dusan Janjic, the director of the Forum for Ethnic Relations, observed that the final status of Kosovo could not be resolved until a serious strategy for negotiation is established.
Insisting on the fastest possible resolution of the issue would be flying in the face of the facts and the interests of the international community, he said.
“If the resolution of the status is pushed through next year, I think that it will involve a very dangerous zone of security risk, and escalation of tension, extremism and the division of Kosovo.
“This is something which those who want to speed the process up must have in mind.
He added that there was a further question of whether the damaging effects for Kosovo would be felt only within the province.
The president of the Committee of Lawyers for Human Rights, Biljana Kovacevic-Vuco, emphasised that the final status of Kosovo would be the result of negotiations from which no one would emerge satisfied.
“In the meantime, people in Serbia are not sufficiently aware that the majority at the central level is not the same majority as in local communities,” said Kovacevic-Vuco.
“We have still not got one fact through our heads and that is that Serbs are a minority in Kosovo. Now the only way to deal with the minority status of Serbs in Kosovo is to demand that the majority take responsibility for the status of minorities.
“2003 the year for meeting aspirations”
Kosovo Prime Minister Bajram Redzep said last week that in 2003, Kosovo Albanians’ aspirations for independence could be fulfilled.
“In 2003, with greater community commitment of the Kosovo institutions and media, we could see our nation’s ambitions fulfilled,” Redzep told journalists in Pristina.
[B92]
JK, your suspicion about Lantos is, ahem, right on the money. See my other response to you.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.