Agence France-Presse,
US President George W. Bush Sunday pushed for the speedy independence of Kosovo from Serbia, despite Russia's vehement opposition, as he staged a landmark visit to Albania.
Bush, the first US leader to visit Albania — the penultimate leg of his European tour — said the days of “endless dialogue” on Albanian-majority Kosovo were over and signalled that Washington's patience was wearing thin.
“We need to get moving and the end result is independence,” Bush said at a joint press conference with Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha in the capital Tirana.
“If not, we're going to have to move. Independence is the goal,” he said, adding that he had asked the Albanian prime minister to “work with the leaders in Kosovo to maintain calm during these final stages of Kosovo's final status process.”
It was the latest issue to heighten tensions between Washington and Moscow, which vehemently opposes independence for the breakaway Serbian province.
Ties between the United States and Russia have already cooled over Washington's plan to set up a missile defence shield in Eastern Europe which Russia says could fuel a new arms race on the continent.
Bush, the first US leader to visit Albania, said US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would work hard to secure a resolution palatable to the UN Security Council, including veto-carrying Russia.
UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari's calls for Kosovo's independence are backed by Kosovo Albanian leaders, Washington and the European Union, but rejected by Serbia and Russia.
Serbia reacted swiftly to Bush's announcement, saying Belgrade would strike down any unilateral declaration of freedom.
“If Albanian separatists unilaterally proclaim independence, the Serbian government will immediately enact a law which will annul this unilateral decision and declare it null and void,” a source in the Serbian cabinet told the Tanjug news agency.
Andrija Mladenovic, spokesman for Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica's party, meanwhile said “all state institutions will immediately reject any such proclamation of independence,” Tanjug reported.
Bush got a rare and adoring welcome in Albania in stark contrast to the protests the president has faced during previous overseas tours due to the US policy in Iraq.
Albanian prime minister Berisha said Bush was the “greatest and most distinguished guest we have ever had in all times, the president of the United States of America, the leading country of the free world.”
Posters welcoming Bush were plastered across the capital Tirana, and star-spangled banners and portraits of the American leader festooned the streets as thousands — some sporting Uncle Sam hats — turned up to cheer him.
The president was greeted by cries of “Bush-y, Bush-y” by adoring crowds in Tirana's central square, where he shook hands with some on a walkabout.
On a whistle-stop visit to an outlying town, Bush climbed onto the running board of his car and blew a kiss to the milling crowds in rock star style before leaving.
“Bush is the president of the world. He is like a king to me,” said 18-year-old student Arian Geka, describing him as a “student of God.”
After his seven-hour stop in Albania, where he met with President Alfred Moisiu as well as Berisha, Bush went on to Bulgaria, the final stop of his European tour which also took him to the Czech Republic, Poland and Italy in addition to a G8 summit in Germany.
Bush was scheduled to meet Monday with Bulgarian President Georgy Parvanov and Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev.
Major topics on the agenda will be Kosovo, extending a US missile defence shield into Europe and the fate of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor on death-row in Libya who have contested their conviction for infecting over 400 children with AIDS.
Albania's post-communist era enthusiasm for the United States was reinforced after the US-led NATO intervention in the 1998-1999 Kosovo conflict.
Albania has contributed symbolically to the US-led coalition forces in Iraq and has said it is prepared to shelter one or more permanent US bases.
