2007 Press Releases

Assistant Secretary Daniel Fried, Press Availability following meeting with Northern Mayors, Zvecan Town Hall, Kosovo, March 6, 2007, 6:30pm

(statement by Zvecan Mayor)

Assistant Secretary Fried:  Hvala.  I would also like to say to begin that I appreciate the opportunity to meet with the Mayors.  We had a good discussion and a serious one because these are serious times.  There is…we are approaching the end of the negotiations about arrangements for Kosovo’s final status.  Neither side can get everything it seeks, and no side should get nothing.  In the view of my government, the Serbs of Kosovo need to know that we believe that they must have a future in Kosovo and will have a future in Kosovo, to live in security and as Serbs.  We do not want to see anyone’s nationalist agenda be fulfilled anywhere in this land that has seen too much nationalism altogether.   

The Mayor is correct when he said that the meeting on the tenth of March in Vienna will be important.  I very much hope that the Serbian government negotiating team will come with practical, serious proposals.  Now, it’s not for me to talk about Ahtisaari’s proposals because, among other things, they have not been finalized.  But I believe that they will provide the conditions for the Serbs of Kosovo to live in peace in their homes, in their cities in Kosovo.  And I told the Mayors at the end of our meeting that I wanted to see them again, in their cities, in peace and freedom, for many years to come.  I will say one last thing…that I believe that the best future possible now is for Serbia and Kosovo and all the lands of this region to meet in a united Europe, where all the peoples can meet again as friends and this dark time will be just a memory.  And that’s certainly the hope of my government and the governments of Europe with which we are working on this problem.  Thank you very much.  And good luck.  Srecno.

Q: Will USA recognize Kosovo’s independence if it is declared?

Assistant Secretary Fried:  That’s not the right question at the moment.  The question is what will Ahtisaari’s recommendations be and how can they best be carried out.  So it’s not the right time to discuss that question.  But I don’t believe that unilateral steps are the best way.  I do believe that the best way to proceed is through Ahtisaari’s plan when it is finalized.  That’s going to be far better than unilateral and uncontrolled steps into a difficult future.

Q: Doesn’t the Ahtisaari plan break international law by infringing upon the sovereignty of Serbia?

Assistant Secretary Fried:  I disagree with the premise of your statement.  I am sorry that Yugoslavia fell apart in the way it did.  It was murdered, in fact, and not by any on the outside.  So we’ve got to deal with the consequences of that tragedy.  And it won’t do anyone any good for slogans to be shouted.  We’ve had too much if that in this part of the world for too long. 

Q: You didn’t answer my question.  Do you think Serbs here have lived here only since the time of Milosevic: are you not taking away the territory of Serbia?

Assistant Secretary Fried:  History goes back a very long way.  There are a great many things I would have liked to have seen turn out differently than they turned out.  We don’t have that luxury, and the Serbs living in Kosovo don’t have the luxury.  The Mayors and other Serbs south of the Ibar have to make the best of what we have now and in the future.  The Mayors here are going to do their best.  And the Serbs south of the Ibar are going to do their best.  And they may have different views among themselves about what is best.  But let’s help the Serbs that are here, and not just trade slogans about what might have been, and who did what to whom hundreds of years ago.  I would rather have fewer slogans and more Serbs living in Kosovo, now, tomorrow, next year and in five hundred years.  Thank you very much.

Now I have to say we had a good discussion but we also had a frank one.  We disagree on some things, and Oliver Ivanovic was very open and honest about where we do agree and where we don’t agree.

You heard him express his concern with the portions of Ahtisaari’s draft proposal that have to do with Serbia’s territorial integrity, and he made this quite clear.  But Mr. Ivanovic also made clear that he wants to be one of the leaders of the Serbs in Kosovo, and he wants to see that community prosper in peace and security in Kosovo now and forever.  I respect this vision.  My government wants Kosovo to be enriched by the historic Serbian community. 

The final round of discussions sponsored by President Ahtisaari will take place on the tenth of March, and I hope that the Serbian negotiators come with practical proposals.  This is not a time for slogans, it’s a time for practical solutions.

I should also say that it is natural that the Serbs in Kosovo would have different views. These are hard problems.  And therefore I was distressed to hear that some Serbs attempted to intimidate other Serbs this weekend in Gracanica for merely attempting to express their opinion.

We need to respect our differences.  And we need to respect the right of Serbs in Kosovo to have differences and work out their differences democratically, but not by thuggish threats.

Tomorrow, I will meet with the Kosovo Albanian leaders and I will confirm to them America’s support for a Kosovo in which no nationalist agenda can succeed, a Kosovo in which the historic Serbian community -- its cultural heritage, the monasteries -- has a place now and forever.

And I believe that Ahtisaari’s proposals, when finalized, will provide a framework for just such a future.  But more than plans, it will take people and leaders with courage to see that the best obtainable result is realized.

And as I said earlier today I would like to see fewer slogans and more Serbs in Kosovo.  Thank you very much.