Bush: "Kosovars Are Now Independent"
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a statement that Bush "has responded affirmatively" to Kosovo's request to establish diplomatic relations.
"The establishment of these relations will reaffirm the special ties of friendship that have linked together the people of the United States and Kosovo," the statement said.
Rice welcomed "the commitments Kosovo made in its declaration of independence" to implement a United Nations-backed plan, "to embrace multi-ethnicity as a fundamental principle of good governance, and to welcome a period of international supervision."
"The unusual combination of factors found in the Kosovo situation -- including the context of Yugoslavia's breakup, the history of ethnic cleansing and crimes against civilians in Kosovo, and the extended period of U.N. administration -- are not found elsewhere and therefore make Kosovo a special case," she said. "Kosovo cannot be seen as a precedent for any other situation in the world today."
Earlier, Bush, touring Tanzania, declared that "the Kosovars are now independent."
Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leadership announced its independence from Serbia over the weekend, and suspense gripped the province on Monday as its citizens awaited key backing from the United States and key European powers.
By appealing directly to the U.S. and other nations for recognition, Kosovo's independence set up a showdown with Serbia - outraged at the imminent loss of its territory - and Russia.
Serbia recalled its ambassador to the United States in response to recognition of Kosovo's independence, Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said Monday.
Serbia also filed legal charges against Kosovo's leadership Monday for creating a "false state" and vowed to block the nascent nation's attempts to join the international community in a fierce response to the declaration of independence.
The Interior Ministry said President Fatmir Sejdiu, Prime Minister Hashim Thaci and Speaker Jakup Krasniqi had been charged with committing a "a serious criminal act against the constitutional order and security of Serbia" following Sunday's historic declaration by Kosovo's Albanian-dominated parliament.
Serbia said it would also seek to block Kosovo from gaining diplomatic recognition and membership to international organizations, including the United Nations.
"The so-called Kosovo state will never be a member of the United Nations," Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic.
"Serbia will use all diplomatic means at its disposal to block Kosovo's recognition," he said in an interview with the national television network.
Jeremic said Serbia will rely on Russia to block Kosovo's membership to the U.N. while Belgrade will block Kosovo's access to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council of Europe. Every member of the two organizations must agree to newcomers.
"As long as Serbia is a member (of the two organizations), the so-called Kosovo state will not be," he said.
In a closed-door emergency session of the U.N. Security Council Russia tried to block Kosovo's independence Sunday night, saying it was deeply concerned about the safety of Serbs living in the territory.
The discussion of the 15-member council on Sunday continued to expose divisions among members on the future of Kosovo. Russia backs its close ally Serbia, while the United States, Britain, France and many other European Union members support Kosovo's majority ethnic Albanians.
China, a veto-wielding U.N. Security Council member that had close ties with the Yugoslav government of Slobodan Milosevic, expressed its "deep concern" Monday over Kosovo's declaration and called on the province to reach a "proper solution through negotiations" with Serbia.
The council met at the request of Serbia and Russia, which argue that Kosovo's declaration of independence violates a 1999 council resolution that authorizes the U.N. to administer the territory.
European Union foreign ministers were meeting separately Monday in Belgium to discuss Kosovo's status. Spain said it would not recognize the new nation but Germany backed Kosovo's independence.
The U.N. session got off to a rocky start; shortly after it began, it had to be suspended for a couple hours because of a lack of interpreters.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Serbia's president told him that Kosovo's declaration carries no legal weight, while Kosovo's prime minister assured him he was committed to "equal opportunities and no discrimination" against anyone in Kosovo.
Ban urged all sides to "refrain from any actions or statements that could endanger peace, incite violence or jeopardize security in Kosovo and the region."
The 1999 Security Council resolution on Kosovo remains in force and the U.N. "will continue to implement its mandate in the light of the evolving circumstances," Ban said.
"The declaration is a milestone," said CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk at United Nations headquarters, "but U.N. membership and independence without a U.N.-mandated force is still a long way off."
Falk said "Sunday's Security Council session showed the deep divisions between Russia and Serbia on one side and the U.S., the U.K., France and Kosovo on the other - and these issues are unlikely to be resolved this week, when the Council hears from Serbia's President."
Kosovo had formally remained a part of Serbia even though it has been administered by the U.N. and NATO since 1999, when NATO air strikes ended former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic's crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists, which killed 10,000 people.
In April 2007, U.N. envoy Ahtisaari recommended that Kosovo be granted internationally supervised independence. But talks that followed failed to yield an agreement between the ethnic Albanian leadership, which pushed for full statehood, and Serbia, which was willing to offer only autonomy.
"The Ahtisaari plan is our blueprint forward," Mr. Bush said. "We'll watch to see how the events unfold today. The Kosovars are now independent."
The past Security Council resolution means the U.N. still runs Kosovo and "it is not obvious at all what could possibly be the legal basis for even considering" Kosovo's declaration of independence," Churkin said.
He specifically addressed the estimated 120,000 Serbs living in enclaves in Kosovo.
"Our concern is for the safety of the Serbs and other ethnic minorities in Kosovo," Churkin told reporters. "We'll strongly warn against any attempts at repressive measures, should Serbs in Kosovo decide not to comply with this unilateral proclamation of independence."
U.S. and other Western countries said there was little danger to the Serbs in Kosovo and that the 1999 resolution does not preclude Kosovo's independence.
"We've knocked it down over and over again. This is an unprecedented situation, it creates no precedent," Alejandro Wolff, the U.S. deputy ambassador to the U.N., told reporters before the session
Wolff said the United States is not "particularly concerned or sees no particular danger to be worried about" with regards to the safety of Serbs in Kosovo.
"We're pleased by the commitments made to respect for religious and ethnic communities in Kosovo," he told reporters. "We're very much pleased that the declaration also reflects a position of the United States that's longstanding."
Council member Indonesia, concerned about its own secessionist movements, said it was following the situation closely but was not yet prepared to recognize Kosovo's statehood.
Kosovo's 2 million population is 90 percent ethnic Albanian, mainly secular Muslims, who do not want to be part of Serbia, a predominantly Christian Orthodox nation.