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| "Kosovo as independent as Serbia" |
| 14 November 2009 | 16:50
| Source:
FoNet |
WASHINGTON, PRIŠTINA --
U.S. ambassador in Priština Christopher Dell said that Kosovo is "as independent of a country as Serbia is", because it can "function independently".
Dell also said that the international community will have to stay in Kosovo for at least another ten years.
"Kosovo is as sovereign and independent as much as Serbia is,” he told Voice of America.
“Serbia does not even have control all of its entire territory, because we should remember the Kumanovo Agreement, which decrees that Serbia’s military and police forces cannot be within five kilometers of the border on the ground, and 25 kilometers from the Kosovo border in the air,” Dell said.
He said that it cannot be said that Kosovo does not have "sovereignty" over its entire territory “because in the north of Kosovo, they are trying to maintain the situation the way it is, to stop Priština from controlling that part, like Serbia in 2000-2001, when it did not have sovereignty or control over the Preševo Valley part of its territory.”
Dell said that there is no deadline determining when the international community must exit Kosovo.
“We will need a lot of time to restore everything that was destroyed during the time of misfortune which Kosovo went through in the past,” he said.
The American ambassador said that the elections are very important for the Serb community in order to “take over that much desired and needed control of its everyday life and administer over all resources which will enable them to make life easier for the community.”
“In the last ten years, Serbs have always been told: wait, be patient, we will take care of you. To be honest, I do not see much progress and I think that Serbs have realized that nothing will come of these promises. Belgrade has been promising them for years that it will take care of them, but nothing has changed,” Dell said.
He said that the U.S. will not withdraw its recognition of Kosovo even if the ICJ determines that the unilateral proclamation went against international law.
He said that this proclamation is "in accordance with the law", adding that the U.S. will state why it believes that the decision was "in accordance with international law", and said that he believes that “the international court will take all the documented facts into consideration” before giving its opinion on the issue.
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