U.S. Congress voices different views on Kosovo issue

Source: Tanjug

WASHINGTON -- A hearing on the situation in the Balkans held Tuesday in the U.S. Congress Committee on Foreign Affairs included different views on the Kosovo crisis.

The U.S. Congress (Beta, file)

The views ranged from the position that Serbia is the only one responsible for the latest developments to the idea that the division of Kosovo is the best possible and the only sustainable solution, but ended in a common stand that a dialogue is the only way towards the final solution.

The participants urged the U.S. State Department to support the probe into the human organ trafficking in Kosovo and launch a detailed investigation into the allegations presented in the report by Council of Europe Rapporteur Dick Marty.

Subcommittee on Europe and Eurasia Chairman Dan Burton, who recently visited the Western Balkans, stated that peace and stability in the area could be established only by people living there, and that this would be impossible for anyone else.

“The U.S. has decided to recognize Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence even before it let Serbs and Albanians agree, and that only aggravated the problems,” Burton stressed.

He noted that he was aware that the U.S. administration did not share his opinion, but added that he agreed with official Washington that the dialogue was the only way towards solution.

The Indiana congressman underlined that the issue of Kosovo should be resolved as part of Serbia's EU integration process, rather than be set as a precondition for the accession talks.

Burton and Texas representative in the Congress Ted Poe urged the U.S. administration to offer strong support to the investigation into the human organ trafficking in Kosovo, which was allegedly carried out by members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).

Assistant State Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Gordon said that the probe would be carried out for sure, and that the U.S. was serious about Marty's report.

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