Fried: Kosovo’s independence is inevitable
US Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Daniel Fried has said that Serbia has lost its chance to keep Kosovo, and that independence is inevitable.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Monday, January 14, 2008
"When Serbia abolished Kosovo's autonomy and destroyed the Kosovo leadership from the time of the former Yugoslavia, it lost the possibility of keeping Kosovo," Fried said.
"The Serbs lost Kosovo in 1999, not because of Boris Tadic or Vojislav Kostunica, but because of Milosevic," Condoleezza Rice's assistant said.
Fried also said that Serbia had a future in Europe, if it firmly "grabs" it.
"No one is saying that Serbia must choose between Kosovo and the EU, and it is unfair to face people with that dilemma. The choice facing Serbia is not EU or Kosovo, but Europe or isolation. And the fact is that they cannot choose to keep Kosovo, because they lost it many years ago, and someone has to tell people that," Fried said.
Ministry for Kosovo and Metohija state secretary Dusan Prorokovic, in reaction to Fried's statement, said that "all those who address Serbia this way only demonstrate their ignorance concerning the Balkans and lack of understanding for Balkan problems, which is regrettable."
"There is no guilt for Tadic and Kostunica's part for the current situation in Kosovo and Metohija, but there is guilty and responsibility for the US' part," Prorokovic said.
"Responsibility is in the hands of the US for all future events in the Balkans as well. I do not expect Fried to admit that, but I also do not expect Fried to make new threats against Serbia, because threats will not help stabilize the situation," Prorokovic said.
