U.S. Diplomats On Alert After Attacks

Violence At Embassies In Balkans Leaves One Dead; Serb Protesters Attack U.N. Police

(CBS/AP)  He expressed hope that the violence that has broken out daily at border posts since Sunday's declaration will gradually ease as peacekeepers step up patrols and the EU deploys a 1,800-member police and justice mission.

Thaci, however, brushed aside concerns that Kosovo's statehood might not stand the test of time.

"Everything is clear. We have massive recognition," he said. "Kosovo is an independent state - sovereign and democratic."

"Kosovo has very good relations with all neighbors, and in the future we hope to have good relations with a democratic Serbia, too," he said.

Thaci is reviled in Serbia and among Kosovo's 100,000-member Serb minority because of his KLA past. During the war, he dressed in combat fatigues and used the nom-de-guerre "The Snake."

But on Friday, sporting a dark tailored suit, a crisp white shirt and a red pinstriped necktie and seated next to the Republic of Kosovo's new flag, he reached out to Serbs on both sides of the border.

"My message to Serbs of Kosovo is to continue to be part of the institutions of Kosovo," Thaci said. "I call them to join us in our vision for a new Kosovo, and for Kosovo to be a part of the EU and NATO."

"Kosovo is a country of everybody," he said.


Russia Lashes Out At West Over Kosovo

Moscow's envoy to NATO warned Friday that Russia may conclude it needs to resort to "brute military force" to earn respect on the world scene if all EU nations recognize Kosovo's independence and NATO oversteps its authority in Kosovo.

Dmitry Rogozin called the move to recognize Kosovo a "strategic mistake" but assured NATO that Russia was not planning to get involved in any armed confrontation over Kosovo.

He said Western countries were ignoring international law by recognizing Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia.

"If the European Union works out a single position and NATO goes beyond its current mandate in Kosovo, these organizations will conflict with the United Nations," Rogozin said in a televised hookup from Brussels.

"And we, I think, will proceed from an assumption that to be respected, we have to use brute military force," he said.

The Foreign Ministry's envoy to the Balkans, Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko, told the Interfax news agency that Kosovo Serbs' rejection of Pristina's declaration could effectively split Kosovo in half.

"There is a prospect of self-isolation of Kosovo Serbs who don't accept the unilateral recognition of Kosovo's independence by Pristina," Botsan-Kharchenko was quoted as saying. "And that may lead to the effective division of Kosovo."

Rogozin said Moscow was alarmed by reports that authorities in Kosovo had closed the border with Serbia.

Local authorities patrol Kosovo's borders but main responsibility for security lies with NATO peacekeepers. NATO has more than 16,000 troops in Kosovo.

On Friday, NATO peacekeepers sent back several busloads of Serbs seeking to join a rally in the Kosovo Serb stronghold of Kosovska Mitrovica on Friday.

Rogozin said Moscow will monitor whether watch NATO forces in Kosovo overstep their U.N. mandate.

"Under no circumstances should the alliance get involved in politics," said Rogozin, a former leader of a Russian nationalist party. "It must remain neutral."

Despite escalating tensions with the West over Kosovo, he assured NATO that Russia would not get involved in any armed confrontation.

"I can guarantee you that there will be no war between Russia and NATO over Kosovo," though the Kosovo issue "will certainly hamper our dialogue," he said.

Rogozin said some Western nations made "a strategic mistake, similar to the invasion of Iraq," by backing Kosovo's independence.

"We are talking about the destruction of the international security system. This threatens to inflame conflicts in all parts of the world," he said.

Rogozin called the violent protests in the Serbian capital "national wrath that will be hard to curb," and criticized the West for making "a step toward a very cruel and emotional ethnic conflict" in the Balkans.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said Moscow regretted the violence in Belgrade. But blamed nations' decision to back Kosovo, saying they "should have realized the consequences," the Interfax news agency reported.

More than a dozen nations have recognized Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia, including the United States, Britain, France and Germany.

Russia, China and others, including EU member Spain, have rejected the unilateral declaration by Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leadership.

The U.S. ambassador to NATO said Washington was "very disappointed" by Russia's hostility over Kosovo.

It is "very, very important that responsible states, responsible democracies urge calm" following Kosovo's declaration. "That is what we should be working on: seeking together, not inciting hatreds," envoy Victoria Nuland said.

Predominantly ethnic Albanian Kosovo, which has been governed by a U.N. mission and patrolled by NATO peacekeepers since 1999, had been widely expected to declare independence from Serbia after internationally mediated talks on its future fell apart last year.

[antoniof123]

if it is anything remotely american we know YOU ARE AGAINST IT.

Posted by libsrweak at 03:57 PM : Feb 22, 2008

Do you have any gray matter between your ears? Did you read what was said. Let me see if I can translate for you.

They flet bad for the Americans doing there job because of what you idiots preceive as being American.

Do the world if not the universe a favor and go back to you hole your days are numbered November is right around the corner and I am certain now that it will be a blood bath for the GOP.

[libsrweak]

......."I would not want to be an embassador for anything right now,...."

Posted by Quetzal0666 at 03:02 PM : Feb 22, 2008"


HAHAHAHHAHAHAH oh we are sure you dont want to be anything other than one of those whinny conspiracy liberal lurking in the shadows..waiting for something to whine about..

if it is anything remotely american we know YOU ARE AGAINST IT.

[easeup-2009]

"The Only Reason SHRUB backed the creation of this state was so we could then make missile defence systems in their territories,
no one really hears the truth from any of the 3 major networks, any wonder Russia Opposed it?
I would not want to be an embassador for anything right now, soon theill be pelted with anything at hand after 7 years of BUSHIT and Lies!!

Posted by Quetzal0666 at 03:02 PM : Feb 22, 2008"

Please tell us why Britain, France, Germany & basically everyone but Russia & Serbia recognize Kosovo''s independence???

[hillaryin08]

Send Bill and Albright over there to fix it, They started it and left it hanging for the next guy to deal with...........

[quetzal0666]

The Only Reason SHRUB backed the creation of this state was so we could then make missile defence systems in their territories,
no one really hears the truth from any of the 3 major networks, any wonder Russia Opposed it?
I would not want to be an embassador for anything right now, soon theill be pelted with anything at hand after 7 years of BUSHIT and Lies!!

[jkessin518]

After spending billions of dollars around the world building new well secured Embassies with sufficient property setback, why is Embassy Belgrade still in a decrepit building World War II era building which can''t be protected?

[randynason]

Why doesn''t the rest of the world like us, anymore? (sarcasm)

[prinzowhales]

The Washington Regime has crossed the line once more. It has violated the UN mandate...it has violated the Charter...just as it--and its allies--did when it invaded Kosovo in an offensive war based on lies for the sake of snatching this mineral rich province from Serbia for Mr. Soros and friends.

Only the kind of madmen and fools who gave us the first two world wars support a nuclear exchange for the sake of an Interpol-named drug gang--the KLA--and the portfolios of monsters.

[gangesdak]

All US has to do is to bomb Serbian Prez''s residence/palace. Let us see what happens after that.

[pooleyman]

duh, we have nuclear weapons and can do the same amount of damage as russia. whats to be scared about? They will not use them because if they did then we would just return the favor and that would be the end of the world as we know it. Not going to happen

[sandzz-2009]

I can kinda care because they kinda have nuclear weapons that can kinda do a hefty amount of damage and loss of life... That should cause any reasonable person to become concerned.

[pooleyman]

who cares what russia does, is that suppose to intimidate us and make us scared. give me a freakin break they cant even take care of their own country