Kosova recognition from U.S. and other countries

TIRANA, Feb. 18 – The United States and the European Union’s biggest powers quickly recognized Kosova as an independent nation Monday, while Serbia, Russia, China and some EU members strongly opposed to letting the territory break away from Serbia.
The first person to officially declare recognition of Kosova’s independence on behalf of US was Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who said, “The United States has today formally recognized Kosova as a sovereign and independent state. We congratulate the people of Kosova on this historic occasion.”
“The establishment of these relations will reaffirm the special ties of friendship that have linked together the people of the United States and Kosova,:” the statement said.
Rice welcomed “the commitments Kosova 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 Kosova situation נincluding the context of Yugoslavia’s breakup, the history of ethnic cleansing and crimes against civilians in Kosova, and the extended period of U.N. administration נare not found elsewhere and therefore make Kosova a special case,” she said. “Kosova cannot be seen as a precedent for any other situation in the world today. ”
US president George Bush sent an official letter to Kosova president Fatmir Sejdiu recognizing Kosova as an independent and sovereign state. “I congratulate you and Kosova’s citizens for having taken this important step in your democratic and national development,” Bush wrote, later commenting the US believed an independent Kosova would bring peace to the Balkans.
Among EU countries expected to recognize Kosova were Austria, Poland, Finland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Hungary, Denmark, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Croatia.
Serbia ordered its ambassador in Washington to leave the United States as a counter measure to US recognition of Kosova independence, Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica told parliament.
Bush said he believed “history will prove this to be the correct move.”
But the dispute is likely to worsen already strained relations between the West and Russia, which is a traditional ally of Serbia and seeks to restore its influence in former Soviet bloc states. The Kremlin could become less likely to help in international efforts important to the U.S. and its allies, such as pressuring Iran to rein in its nuclear program.
The EU does not recognize nations, leaving that up to its individual members, and Spain, Greece, Romania and Cyprus have criticized the effort to make Kosova independent.