Interfax's Interview

            “Of course we will support” Kosovo’s desire to join the UN, DiCarlo said.

            The ideal scenario of future developments in the Balkan region for Washington would be "first of all, a Serbia well on the path toward the European Union, a Serbia that has come to terms with the loss of Kosovo, and a Serbia and Kosovo that have relations with each other that are beginning to be normal, neighborly relations. We know this will take time,” she said.

            An ideal scenario should also include “a Kosovo that has implemented the Ahtisaari plan, or at least most of it by that point, passed its constitution, passed laws to implement the plan, put in place decentralization so that local communities have much more authority over their own affairs. This will help the Serb community and will help a lot of other communities in Kosovo,” she said.

            The U.S. goal for the Balkan region is “for that region to become part of Europe and, if they choose, part of NATO,” DiCarlo said.

            The U.S. does not support the idea of Kosovo’s partition, DiCarlo said. “Our position has been very firm on this issue. We do not support a partition of Kosovo. This is a position that all of us agreed to in the Contact Group back in 2005, Russia as well, that we did not want to see a partition of Kosovo, and we did not want to see Kosovo uniting with a part or with another country in the region. These were very firm principles that we agreed to,” she said. 

            DiCarlo reiterated that the U.S. view Kosovo as a special case. “We have said several times that we consider Kosovo a special case, that we view Kosovo very differently from other conflicts.”

            “What we have in Kosovo, we view in the context of the breakup of Yugoslavia,” she said.

            DiCarlo admitted that the U.S. and Russia “might have different interpretations” of UN resolution 1244 on Kosovo.

            “We agree that 1244 remains in effect. But we see 1244, as I said, as a call for a political process. We see that the status of Kosovo was left totally open and did not dictate that Kosovo should be independent or should not be independent. The resolution calls for presences – international presences – to assist Kosovo in its development,” she said.

            “So, perhaps there are shades of difference, and now as we look at the resolution, it is the job of the Security Council to interpret resolutions that it passes,” she said.

            DiCarlo also said the United States Congress has allocated $335 million to facilitate Kosovo’s economic development.

            “Congress has allocated $335 million for Kosovo’s development. This figure is for 2007-2008 for a range of programs, [such as] rule of law, economic development. I think it is extremely important that Kosovo be provided this kind of support. Also, first and foremost, we think it is important that Kosovo be eligible for loans from international financial institutions,” DiCarlo said.

            “One of the things that was holding Kosovo back [is] the fact that, during this period of UN administration, Kosovo could not access any kind of international financial lending, it could not improve its infrastructure, it could not improve a number of things that would have provided a better life for everybody in Kosovo, including the Kosovo Serbs,” she said.

            DiCarlo also called on Serbia to hand over war criminals wanted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

            “There are a number of things Serbia does have to get over [to overcome] the complex of the past,” she said.

            One of these issues is “the issue of war criminals and apprehending the remaining criminals that have been indicted by the International Court for the Former Yugoslavia,” DiCarlo said.

            Asked whether the U.S. believes the Serbs will eventually hand over such criminals, DiCarlo replied, “We certainly hope so. They have made progress over the years, and we saw just a couple of years ago they apprehended quite a number of them, and there were voluntary surrenders as well, and we would hope that once and for all the remaining indictees will be brought to justice,” she said.

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