Pristina - Kosovo leaders expressed their appreciation and gratitude for clear statements by US president George Bush on Kosovo’s status during his visit to Albania on June 10.

“In this way, with such statements, Bush not only confirmed the US support for Kosovo’s independence, but in a way he also declared the independence for Kosovo,” prime minister Agim Ceku said.

“Kosovo will be independent,” Bush said in Tirana, capital of neighbouring Albania, after meeting Albania’s prime minister Sali Berisha. “What is important for the people of Kosovo is that the US and Albania strongly support their independence,” Bush said. Kosovo remains formally part of Serbia but is about 90 per cent ethnic Albanian.

Kosovo has been under UN administration since 1999. The disputed territory is expected to gain independence under international supervision, a plan proposed by diplomat Martti Ahtisaari. The plan is now in the UN Security Council, where it has the support of Western powers but is strongly opposed by Russia.

Bush’s visit to Albania followed the Group of Eight (G8) summit meeting of industrialised nations. The US and Russia failed to reach a compromise over Kosovo’s status during the summit. Kosovo’s president, Fatmir Sejdiu, rated Bush’s visit to Albania and his statement on the territory’s status as very important. “We have wished and waited for this moment,” Sejdiu said. Hashim Thaci, the head of the opposition Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, said Bush’s statement could not be more clear. “The time of delays is passed and now is the time for independence,” he said. Thaci appealed to the UN to follow Bush’s call and to adopt a resolution on Kosovo as soon as possible. Veton Surroi, head of ORA party said, “Bush was clear that the final status of Kosovo will be independence.”

“We trust our allies and friends and remain confident in a quick solution for Kosovo,” Kosovo government spokesperson Ulpiana Lama said on June 10. Kosovo leaders have discussed their worry about the possible delay of a decision on the disputed territory after a proposal for a six-month-long delay by French president Nicolas Sarkozy during the G8 summit. “I appeal to the international community to adopt a new resolution very quickly, or to leave Kosovo to go its own way,” Ceku said on June 8.

The tension and frustration that built in Kosovo after Sarkozy’s suggestion seemed to ease after Bush’s statements on June 10. Beside the prime minister’s office, political parties and civil society in Kosovo expressed thanks for Bush’s comments. The Kosovo’s New Alliance, AKR, said in a statement that they “welcome the determination of President Bush and his administration for Kosovo’s independence and the necessity for this process to be concluded immediately.”

The Kosovo’s Association of War Veterans also welcomed Bush’s statement. “We express our deepest appreciation for the clear and unequivocal stands of President Bush, to support the people of Kosovo for independence,” the association said.

Bush received an affectionate reception in Albania’s capital, where residents swarmed the streets, some dressed in stars and stripes, although unprecedented security kept much of the city cordoned by security forces. With Black Hawk helicopters hovering over a deep blue sky and hundreds of police officers closing the capital’s main thoroughfares, a feeling of the gravitas of the historic moment swept through the Albanian capital, with parents bringing their children onto the streets to get a taste of what is being called a momentous day.

Hundreds of foreign reporters had followed the president on Air Force One, giving much needed exposure to a country that after has been struggling with an arduous transition since the end of 50 years of Communist rule in 1991. Albania desperately wants to join Nato and the country’s political elite is hoping that the visit of the president of the United States will push their bid for accession, although they have wobbled when it comes to political reforms.

Berisha has been trying to reach out to Washington by sending troops to Iraq and Afghanistan and by harbouring former Guantanamo Bay prisoners that no country was willing to take. Last year, he hired former US homeland security chief Tom Ridge as a consultant to make Tirana’s case in the US. In a country where strong pro-American feelings can turn even a photo-opportunity into political capital, a visit by a sitting US president will provide a strong boost for the government.

In interview before the start of his European trip, Bush said that he “was coming as a lover of liberty, in a land where people are realising the benefits of liberty.”

However, 16 years after the end of the Stalinist dictatorship of Enver Hoxha, Albanians are becoming aware that freedom is not enough to build a stable and flourishing democracy. Still, it never hurts to have friends in high places.

Reporting by BIRN, the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network