SERBIA & MONTENEGRO: Senator Says Some Form of Independence for Kosovo Inevitable

The Article

2006-04-20

George Voinovich, a Republican senator from Ohio, has said that some kind of independence for Kosovo is an inevitable "reality" and added that Kosovo is not Serbia's only problem. Voinovich told the Voice of America that he personally greatly cared about seeing Serbia-Montenegro as a full EU member as soon as possible, stressing that the condition for that was the extradition of Ratko Mladic to The Hague. "What the Serbs should understand," Voinovich said, "is that when Mladic is in The Hague, the U.S. will provide an excellent package meant to help the Serbian economy, which is a project I am involved in myself." Mladic's extradition to The Hague is very important as it will allow the U.S. to start helping Serbia, as it has helped Croatia, Voinovich added. He pointed out that the U.S. had invested in Serbia more than any other country in the world. "I am working on the most favorable possible reduction of Serbia's foreign debts. The Serbs should not allow the Serbian Radical Party to trick them in the matter of Kosovo by leading them in the wrong direction," Voinovich said. He urged the Serbian citizens to ask themselves what will happen if the Radicals came to power and whether life will improve for them. "I told both (Serbian President Boris) Tadic and (Premier Vojislav) Kostunica that Serbia today needed leadership. We keep talking about that, but we cannot seem to get around to actually doing it. Kostunica and Tadic should join forces, at least for a few years, and take care of their people," Voinovich stressed. He added that he personally cared about Serbia's progress, because his roots were in this region. Source: BETA News Agency