U.S. EMBASSY BANJUL
Opinion/Editorial by Ambassador Barry L. Wells
For Immediate Release March 6, 2008
U.S. GOVERNMENT SUPPORT ON KOSOVO’S INDEPENDENCE
The United States applauds the major step Europe took last week toward the goal of a continent whole, free and at peace. Recognition of Kosovo's independence frees both the people who live there and their neighbors to move beyond the conflicts of the 1990s and pursue a wider vision of integration with an undivided Euro-Atlantic community. It marks the final stage of Yugoslavia's slow-motion breakup. Peace and prosperity in Europe has been a fundamental goal of President Bush's foreign policy and of those who preceded him for almost a century. From our entry into the Great War and President Wilson's 14 points, through World War II and the Marshall Plan, to support for NATO and EU enlargement after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the United States has shown its commitment to Europe's security and well-being.
Beginning in 1989, ethnic Albanians, who constitute over 90 percent of Kosovo's population, suffered brutal repression and ethnic cleansing at the hands of the regime of Slobodan Milosevic. After NATO's intervention brought a halt to the violence in 1999, UN Security Council Resolution 1244 ended Belgrade's rule over Kosovo and established a temporary UN administration. For nine years, the people of Kosovo waited patiently for clarity about their future. Nine years is long enough. Acknowledging this deadlock, Special Envoy Ahtisaari developed a comprehensive proposal for Kosovo's status, including a recommendation that Kosovo become independent subject to a period of international supervision. The United States, Europe and a majority of UN Security Council members supported this plan. We all agreed that independence is the only viable outcome for Kosovo. Due to the legacy of conflict and mutual mistrust, there is no way in which the people of Serbia and Kosovo could remain in functional, democratic state. The broken pieces of Yugoslavia simply cannot be put back together again. Instead of letting the situation deteriorate into crisis, Europe and the United States decided to act.
As President Bush has remarked, "these are principles that honor human dignity; they are values America looks for in a friend." No country in Europe will benefit more from Kosovo's independence than Serbia itself. Further anxiety over the outcome would have continued Serbia's obsession with Kosovo and encouraged false hopes, distracting Serbia's leaders from addressing the concerns of their citizens and Serbia's own European future. Serbia's own people deserve better, and are actually demanding it. In fact, polls show that more than 70% of Serbians want integration with the EU and cite unemployment as a greater concern than Kosovo's fate. Serbia needs to take up its rightful place in Europe, the Transatlantic Community, and the world. Europe and the United States stand ready to welcome them. The tragedy of Yugoslavia's demise is now history. Together we can move beyond the legacy of war toward a brighter future for all.
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