State Dept.: Kosovo doesn't set precedent

Tom Casey says that Kosovo does not set a precedent and should not be viewed as such. “Kosovo’s status was implemented with a specific United Nations Security Council resolution, which presupposed that status would be defined at the right moment by the international community." State Dept.: Kosovo doesn't set precedent "That is where we are now. Kosovo is not a precedent and should not be seen as a precedent for any other place in the world. It is certainly not a precedent for Nagorno-Karabakh,” the U.S. State Department spokesman said. The latest conflicts in Nagorno-Karabakh, seen as the most serious in the past few years, according to Casey, cannot be solved by military intervention, Voice of America reported. Azerbaijan and Armenia blame each other for the conflict which broke out on Tuesday along the ceasefire line. The spokesman told reporters that the U.S. was concerned by the violence and hoped that there would be no repeat of Tuesday’s events. “This all shows that the two sides should, together with the so-called Minsk Group, work on resolving the conflict. I know that problems exist, but there is no military solution. This problem must be solved diplomatically,” he stressed. Nagorno-Karabakh is an enclave in Azerbaijan populated by Armenians which declared independence in 1988. A six-year conflict led to the deaths of over 35,000 people. The Minsk Group, formed in 1992, president over by France, Russia and the U.S., is leading diplomatic efforts to solve the conflict. Yerevan accuses Azerbaijan of using the post-election crisis in Armenia to open a conflict, while Baku claims that extremist Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh have been encouraged by international recognition of Kosovo’s unilateral independence declaration. Casey said that the two could not be compared. Holbrooke agrees Former special envoy of the U.S. president for the Balkans Richard Holbrooke hursday stated that the declaration of Kosovo's independence will not set a precedent for attempts by entities to gain independence in other parts of the world. Claming that it is impossible for the Cold War to get restored over Kosovo, Holbrooke said in an interview with Russia's daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta that the opposed stands of Russia and the United States regarding Kosovo might have been avoided had the U.S. administration engaged in a long dialogue with Moscow and had Russia introduced less tension in the process of resolving the issue.

State Dept.: Kosovo doesn't set precedent

"That is where we are now. Kosovo is not a precedent and should not be seen as a precedent for any other place in the world. It is certainly not a precedent for Nagorno-Karabakh,” the U.S. State Department spokesman said.

The latest conflicts in Nagorno-Karabakh, seen as the most serious in the past few years, according to Casey, cannot be solved by military intervention, Voice of America reported.

Azerbaijan and Armenia blame each other for the conflict which broke out on Tuesday along the ceasefire line.

The spokesman told reporters that the U.S. was concerned by the violence and hoped that there would be no repeat of Tuesday’s events.

“This all shows that the two sides should, together with the so-called Minsk Group, work on resolving the conflict. I know that problems exist, but there is no military solution. This problem must be solved diplomatically,” he stressed.

Nagorno-Karabakh is an enclave in Azerbaijan populated by Armenians which declared independence in 1988. A six-year conflict led to the deaths of over 35,000 people. The Minsk Group, formed in 1992, president over by France, Russia and the U.S., is leading diplomatic efforts to solve the conflict.

Yerevan accuses Azerbaijan of using the post-election crisis in Armenia to open a conflict, while Baku claims that extremist Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh have been encouraged by international recognition of Kosovo’s unilateral independence declaration.

Casey said that the two could not be compared.

Holbrooke agrees

Former special envoy of the U.S. president for the Balkans Richard Holbrooke hursday stated that the declaration of Kosovo's independence will not set a precedent for attempts by entities to gain independence in other parts of the world.

Claming that it is impossible for the Cold War to get restored over Kosovo, Holbrooke said in an interview with Russia's daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta that the opposed stands of Russia and the United States regarding Kosovo might have been avoided had the U.S. administration engaged in a long dialogue with Moscow and had Russia introduced less tension in the process of resolving the issue.