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Kosovo: Current and Future Status Hearing Committee KOSOVO: CURRENT AND FUTURE STATUS HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION MAY 18, 2005 Serial No. 109–91 Printed for the use of the Committee on International Relations ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.house.gov/international—relations U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 21–307PDF WASHINGTON : 2005 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Mar 21 2002 09:28 Jan 04, 2006 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 F:\WORK\FULL\051805\21307.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS HENRY J. HYDE, Illinois, Chairman JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa TOM LANTOS, California CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, HOWARD L. BERMAN, California Vice Chairman GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York DAN BURTON, Indiana ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American ELTON GALLEGLY, California Samoa ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey DANA ROHRABACHER, California ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey EDWARD R. ROYCE, California SHERROD BROWN, Ohio PETER T. KING, New York BRAD SHERMAN, California STEVE CHABOT, Ohio ROBERT WEXLER, Florida THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York RON PAUL, Texas WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT, Massachusetts DARRELL ISSA, California GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York JEFF FLAKE, Arizona BARBARA LEE, California JO ANN DAVIS, Virginia JOSEPH CROWLEY, New York MARK GREEN, Wisconsin EARL BLUMENAUER, Oregon JERRY WELLER, Illinois SHELLEY BERKLEY, Nevada MIKE PENCE, Indiana GRACE F. NAPOLITANO, California THADDEUS G. MCCOTTER, Michigan ADAM B. SCHIFF, California KATHERINE HARRIS, Florida DIANE E. WATSON, California JOE WILSON, South Carolina ADAM SMITH, Washington JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas BETTY MCCOLLUM, Minnesota J. GRESHAM BARRETT, South Carolina BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky CONNIE MACK, Florida DENNIS A. CARDOZA, California JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska MICHAEL MCCAUL, Texas TED POE, Texas THOMAS E. MOONEY, SR., Staff Director/General Counsel ROBERT R. KING, Democratic Staff Director MATTHEW MCLEAN, Professional Staff Member JEAN CARROLL, Full Committee Hearing Coordinator (II) VerDate Mar 21 2002 09:28 Jan 04, 2006 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\FULL\051805\21307.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL C O N T E N T S Page WITNESSES The Honorable R. Nicholas Burns, Under Secretary for Political Affairs, U.S. Department of State ............................................................................................ 6 Ms. Mira R. Ricardel, Acting Assistant Secretary for International Security Policy, Office of the Secretary of Defense, U.S. Department of Defense ......... 15 The Most Reverend Mark Sopi, Apostolic Administrator of the Roman Catho- lic Diocese of Prizren ........................................................................................... 32 The Reverend Lush Gjergji, Ph.D., General Administrative Vicar of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Prizren .................................................................... 41 The Honorable Ardian Gjini, Minister of Environment and Spatial Planing, Government of Kosovo ......................................................................................... 42 Ms. Shirley Cloyes DioGuardi, Balkans Affairs Adviser, The Albanian Amer- ican Civic League ................................................................................................. 46 Daniel P. Serwer, Ph.D., Vice President and Director, Peace and Stability Operations and Balkans Initiative, U.S. Institute of Peace ............................. 54 The Honorable Alex Rondos, Member, International Commission on the Bal- kans ....................................................................................................................... 58 Mr. Vuk Jeremic, Foreign Policy Advisor to the President of Serbia .................. 64 The Reverend Irinej Dobrijevic, Coordinator, Kosovo and Metohija Committee Office, Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church ................ 74 Mr. Harry Bajraktari, Member of the Board, National Albanian American Council, and President, Bajraktari Management .............................................. 81 LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING The Honorable R. Nicholas Burns: Prepared statement ...................................... 10 Ms. Mira R. Ricardel: Prepared statement ............................................................ 17 The Most Reverend Mark Sopi: Prepared statement ........................................... 34 The Honorable Ardian Gjini: Prepared statement ................................................ 44 Ms. Shirley Cloyes DioGuardi: Prepared statement ............................................. 49 Daniel P. Serwer, Ph.D.: Prepared statement ....................................................... 56 The Honorable Alex Rondos: Prepared statement ................................................ 60 Mr. Vuk Jeremic: Prepared statement ................................................................... 66 The Reverend Irinej Dobrijevic: Prepared statement ........................................... 77 Mr. Harry Bajraktari: Prepared statement ........................................................... 82 APPENDIX H. Res. 24, Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States should declare its support for the independence of Kosova ..... 96 Mr. Joseph K. Grieboski, Founder and President, Institute on Religion and Public Policy: Prepared statement ...................................................................... 99 (III) VerDate Mar 21 2002 09:28 Jan 04, 2006 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\FULL\051805\21307.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL VerDate Mar 21 2002 09:28 Jan 04, 2006 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\FULL\051805\21307.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL KOSOVO: CURRENT AND FUTURE STATUS WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 2005 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, Washington, DC. The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:40 a.m. in room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Henry J. Hyde (Chair- man of the Committee) presiding. Chairman HYDE. The Balkans area has been a region of tremen- dous concern since the early 1900s. In subsequent years the atten- tion of the United States has been diverted to other geostrategic priorities. However, 2005 is an exceptionally important year for the people of the Balkans. U.S. officials have outlined three main objectives for United States policy in southeastern Europe: (1) integrating the region into a Europe, whole and free; (2) creating a self-sustaining peace so that NATO can eventually withdraw its military forces; and (3) ensuring that the region does not become a safe haven for orga- nized crime and terrorism. This Committee has attempted to address the continuing and un- derlying inadequacies of international policies in the Balkans through a number of hearings since I have been Chairman. We are sensitive to the situation on the ground, and we must consider how actions of the U.S. Congress are perceived in the region. However, we must continue to ask the ultimate questions about the Balkans if we are to achieve the ultimate goal, which is a region that is free, safe, and democratic. Today this Committee considers the most critical issue in the Balkans, the question of Kosovo. In 1999, NATO intervened mili- tarily in the former Yugoslavia. It is important and significant to ask why the final status of Kosovo was left undetermined at that time. The current status of Kosovo, or Kosova as it is also known, is governed by UN Security Council Resolution 1244 passed in June 1999 at the end of the Kosovo conflict. The resolution authorizes an international military and civilian presence in Kosovo, the dura- tion of which is at the discretion of the UN Security Council. The NATO-led peacekeeping force, KFOR, is charged with main- taining a secure environment while the UN mission in Kosovo, UNMIK, is given the chief role of administering Kosova on a provi- sional basis. The resolution provides for an interim period of autonomy for Kosovo of undefined length until negotiations on the future status of the province take place. UNMIK is tasked with gradually trans- (1) VerDate Mar 21 2002 09:28 Jan 04, 2006 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\FULL\051805\21307.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL 2 ferring its administrative active responsibilities to elected, interim, autonomous government institutions while retaining an oversight role. In a future stage, UNMIK will oversee the transfer of authority from the interim autonomous institutions to permanent ones after Kosovo’s future status is determined. UN Security Council Resolution 1244 provides little insight into how the status issue should be resolved, saying only that it should be determined by an unspecified political process. Through the leadership of the United States Administration, in close cooperation with our European allies, the political process re- solving the status issue has been reenergized and reinvigorated over the past year. The international community will review the current situation and status of Kosovo this summer. A decision will be made about the prospects for final status negotiations, perhaps by the end of the year. The purpose of this hearing today is to assess the current situa- tion in Kosova and to consider United States Administration poli-
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