Albanian Government Decision to Give Albanian Citizenship to All KosovarsDaily Press Briefing
Tom Casey, Deputy SpokesmanWashington,
DC October 12, 2007
....Okay, Mr. Lambros, on Kosovo.
QUESTION: On Kosovo. The Albanian Government has decided to give Albanian citizenship to all Kosovars. What is the U.S. position since this move is a big step for the creation of "great Albania."
MR. CASEY: Mr. Lambros, I'm not aware of what the Albanian Government may or may not have -- have chosen to do. Certainly each country is entitled to determine who is or isn't entitled to citizenship under their own appropriate laws and regulations. But the important issue for us, of course, with Kosovo is that we continue to work through the Contact Group and the troika on discussions between the Government of Serbia and the Kosovars on an equitable solution that's agreeable to all sides to the situation there.
Certainly, as we've said, if by the end of the established negotiating period in December the parties have not been able to come to an agreement, what we expect would happen would be a decision to move forward with supervised independence for Kosovo that is in keeping with the outlines of the Ahtisaari plan. I am not aware of anyone in this country or anyplace else that believes that independence for Kosovo would somehow result in or would lead to some kind of greater Albanian state.
QUESTION: (Inaudible) FYROM Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski and the Albanian leader of FYROM Ali Ahmeti declared the other day the unification, "great Albania" all the Albanians in FYROM. Any comment?
MR. CASEY: No.
QUESTION: Because that contradicts whatever you are doing in order to find a solution (inaudible) --
MR. CASEY: Mr. Lambros, you're -- I think you've exceeded your quota for today. But look, we support the territorial integrity of the states in the region, of Albania, of Macedonia, Greece, the other players. Kosovo, as you know, is a unique circumstance. It's a unique circumstance because of the way the conflict occurred. It's a unique circumstance because of the current status of it, which falls under the outlines of UN Security Council Resolution 1244. No one views Kosovo and its probable independence as a precedent for any other conflicts. We certainly are not trying to reopen discussions that I think most of us believe were long settled over other borders.
Thank you.
QUESTION: On Kosovo. The Albanian Government has decided to give Albanian citizenship to all Kosovars. What is the U.S. position since this move is a big step for the creation of "great Albania."
MR. CASEY: Mr. Lambros, I'm not aware of what the Albanian Government may or may not have -- have chosen to do. Certainly each country is entitled to determine who is or isn't entitled to citizenship under their own appropriate laws and regulations. But the important issue for us, of course, with Kosovo is that we continue to work through the Contact Group and the troika on discussions between the Government of Serbia and the Kosovars on an equitable solution that's agreeable to all sides to the situation there.
Certainly, as we've said, if by the end of the established negotiating period in December the parties have not been able to come to an agreement, what we expect would happen would be a decision to move forward with supervised independence for Kosovo that is in keeping with the outlines of the Ahtisaari plan. I am not aware of anyone in this country or anyplace else that believes that independence for Kosovo would somehow result in or would lead to some kind of greater Albanian state.
QUESTION: (Inaudible) FYROM Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski and the Albanian leader of FYROM Ali Ahmeti declared the other day the unification, "great Albania" all the Albanians in FYROM. Any comment?
MR. CASEY: No.
QUESTION: Because that contradicts whatever you are doing in order to find a solution (inaudible) --
MR. CASEY: Mr. Lambros, you're -- I think you've exceeded your quota for today. But look, we support the territorial integrity of the states in the region, of Albania, of Macedonia, Greece, the other players. Kosovo, as you know, is a unique circumstance. It's a unique circumstance because of the way the conflict occurred. It's a unique circumstance because of the current status of it, which falls under the outlines of UN Security Council Resolution 1244. No one views Kosovo and its probable independence as a precedent for any other conflicts. We certainly are not trying to reopen discussions that I think most of us believe were long settled over other borders.
Thank you.
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