Verbeke: No deadlines for decision

Why are the US backing themselves into such a corner when they can't possibly deliver on this promise?

If there is going to be violence on the ground in Kosovo that will be mainly due to all of Mr. Holbrooke's huffing and puffing!

Everybody go ahead and blame Russia for all the world's problems. The world body should have stayed out of the Balkans business and now they are entrenched there for now over 10 years. Then President Clinton said that US Forces would only be in Bosnia for only 6 months and look they are still there and now working on almost 8 year in Kosovo. Sometimes we mean good but don't do anything but make problems worst. But now the UN who is being chased out of Kosovo now has turned to the EU now this your problem solve it.

Aside from who says what, and U.S vs. Russia relations...my bigger concern here, is how diplomacy seems to be falling to a lower level..

I've noticed the State Department people are starting to say things that usually would be said behind closed doors or away from microphones...I'm not used to that.

Russia says one thing.... US says the other.... and the UN say something else , but in the end, it's usually US's plan anyways...

Personally, I think they should rename the whole organization "The United Nations Of America"..

So let's see what we have here:

1. Verbeke says no deadline for a decision and that these things need to take time to solve.

2. Fried says independence by the end of the summer

3. Kostunica says no independence

4. Lavrov says no independence without Serbia approving

5. Ceku says independence already happened last week or something

6. Holbrooke says if no independence it's Russia's and Serbia's fault

7. Nikolic says if independence, Serbia cuts off all relations.

That's at least 7 different interpretation of the same issue. The only version we're missing is the one that will actually happen.

I'm glad that things aren't being kept behind doors as one person commented, finally things come to an end. To an independent Republic of Kosova.

i agree with you Pijetro

US is the world's daddy, like it or not

I think the number of intelligent European diplomats is growing who realize that the views of Russia(the most important single country for the long term security and stability of Europe as a whole)need to be taken into account and a compromise reached acceptable to all sides.There should be no timetable for this to occur based on the irrational and illegal declarations of so called diplomats/politicians such as Holbrooke who are just paid whores in fancy suits.As an American I am disgusted by how easily so many of our political figures are bought and sold by anybody with enough money regardless of what is fair and just.

the level Mr.Holebrooke is arguing on here, is incredibly poor...

not only that he is predicting that the US will recognize the puppet-republic ( what would be a clear breach of the UN-charter ), [is he still in the inner-circle of US-foreign -politics or just babbling around?] but also that he is preemptively accusing others, namely the Russians for possible Albanian brutality on the ground...

some never learn, as it seems.

the best thing for me is, that no one of the contra-independence posters did mention any bribery by the albanian lobby...

I am very glad to see that only Albanians are reduced to that kind of accusations.
if someone is accusing others of "being paid" for doing something that is not in albanian interest, it´s always the Albanians.

Cat is out of the bag now. Russia agreed to appoint Ahtisaari and he's proposed independence. If Russia was against it should not have allowed the word to be said publicly be the UN envoy. Russia has agreed to Contact Group's principles, one of which says Kosovo not to join another country and the other the status should be in accordance with the people's will. So what does it want now? It agreed to independence long ago. This is all just a game to please the Serbs.

JHam

YOu might be right, US and NATO should have stayed out of Balkan/Kosovo business, it definetly would have made thing easier for Serbs - they would have managed to kill much more than 10 000 and there would probably not be any albanians in Kosovo right now. SO there would be around 2 million K albanians refugees living in camps in Albania and Macedonia! and violent clashes still raging in Balkans.

So explain to me again how NATO intervention made things worse?

Unless of course you mean it made things worse for serbs nationalist who will not be able to keep their 'historic heartland'.

Why are the US backing themselves into such a corner when they can't possibly deliver on this promise?

If there is going to be violence on the ground in Kosovo that will be mainly due to all of Mr. Holbrooke's huffing and puffing!

Everybody go ahead and blame Russia for all the world's problems. The world body should have stayed out of the Balkans business and now they are entrenched there for now over 10 years. Then President Clinton said that US Forces would only be in Bosnia for only 6 months and look they are still there and now working on almost 8 year in Kosovo. Sometimes we mean good but don't do anything but make problems worst. But now the UN who is being chased out of Kosovo now has turned to the EU now this your problem solve it.

Aside from who says what, and U.S vs. Russia relations...my bigger concern here, is how diplomacy seems to be falling to a lower level..

I've noticed the State Department people are starting to say things that usually would be said behind closed doors or away from microphones...I'm not used to that.

Russia says one thing.... US says the other.... and the UN say something else , but in the end, it's usually US's plan anyways...

Personally, I think they should rename the whole organization "The United Nations Of America"..

So let's see what we have here:

1. Verbeke says no deadline for a decision and that these things need to take time to solve.

2. Fried says independence by the end of the summer

3. Kostunica says no independence

4. Lavrov says no independence without Serbia approving

5. Ceku says independence already happened last week or something

6. Holbrooke says if no independence it's Russia's and Serbia's fault

7. Nikolic says if independence, Serbia cuts off all relations.

That's at least 7 different interpretation of the same issue. The only version we're missing is the one that will actually happen.

I'm glad that things aren't being kept behind doors as one person commented, finally things come to an end. To an independent Republic of Kosova.

i agree with you Pijetro

US is the world's daddy, like it or not

I think the number of intelligent European diplomats is growing who realize that the views of Russia(the most important single country for the long term security and stability of Europe as a whole)need to be taken into account and a compromise reached acceptable to all sides.There should be no timetable for this to occur based on the irrational and illegal declarations of so called diplomats/politicians such as Holbrooke who are just paid whores in fancy suits.As an American I am disgusted by how easily so many of our political figures are bought and sold by anybody with enough money regardless of what is fair and just.

the level Mr.Holebrooke is arguing on here, is incredibly poor...

not only that he is predicting that the US will recognize the puppet-republic ( what would be a clear breach of the UN-charter ), [is he still in the inner-circle of US-foreign -politics or just babbling around?] but also that he is preemptively accusing others, namely the Russians for possible Albanian brutality on the ground...

some never learn, as it seems.

the best thing for me is, that no one of the contra-independence posters did mention any bribery by the albanian lobby...

I am very glad to see that only Albanians are reduced to that kind of accusations.
if someone is accusing others of "being paid" for doing something that is not in albanian interest, it´s always the Albanians.

Cat is out of the bag now. Russia agreed to appoint Ahtisaari and he's proposed independence. If Russia was against it should not have allowed the word to be said publicly be the UN envoy. Russia has agreed to Contact Group's principles, one of which says Kosovo not to join another country and the other the status should be in accordance with the people's will. So what does it want now? It agreed to independence long ago. This is all just a game to please the Serbs.

JHam

YOu might be right, US and NATO should have stayed out of Balkan/Kosovo business, it definetly would have made thing easier for Serbs - they would have managed to kill much more than 10 000 and there would probably not be any albanians in Kosovo right now. SO there would be around 2 million K albanians refugees living in camps in Albania and Macedonia! and violent clashes still raging in Balkans.

So explain to me again how NATO intervention made things worse?

Unless of course you mean it made things worse for serbs nationalist who will not be able to keep their 'historic heartland'.