US Representatives Lantos and Hyde Submited REsolution for the Recognition of Independent Kosova - FULL RESOLUTION TEXT

Expressing ilie sense ofilie House of Representatives that the United States
should declare its support for the independence of Kosova.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENT A TIVES
January 4, 2005
Mr .LANTOS submitted the following resolution (for himself and Mr .Hyde }; which was referred to

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States should declare its support for the independence ofKosova.
Whereas the United States and the international community recognize that a right to self. detennination exists as a fundamental right of an people;
Whereas Kosova was constitutionally defined as a sovereign ten'itory in the First National Liberation Conference for Kosova on January 2, 1944, and this status was confinned in the Constitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia adopted in 1946, and the amended Yugoslav constitution adopted in 1974 preserved the autonomous status ofKosova as a de facto republic;
Whereas prior to the disintegration of the fonner Yugoslavia, Kosova was a separate political and legal entity with separate and distinct financial institutions, police force, m1micipal and national government, school system, judicial and legal system, hospitals and other independem organizations;
Whereas Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic rose to power in 1987 on a platfonn of ultra nationalism and anti-Albanian racism. advocating violence and hatred against all non-Slavs and specifically targeting the Albanians ofKosova;





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Whereas Slobodan Milosevic subsequently stripped Kosova of its self-rule, without the consent of the people ofKosova;
Whereas the elected Assembly ofKosova, faced with these intolerable acts. adopted a Declaration of Independence on July 2, 1990. proclaimed the Republic of Kosova, and adopted a constitution on September 7, 1990, based on the international legal principles of self -detennination, equality, and sovereignty;
Whereas in recognition of the de facto dissolution of the Yugoslav federation, the European community establishal principles for the recognition of the independence and sovereignty of the republics of the fonner Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Kosova fully satisfied those principles as a de facto republic within the federation;
Whereas a popular referendum was held in Kosova from September 26-30, 1991, in which 87 percent of all eligible voters cast ballots and 99.87 percent voted in favor of declaring Kosova. independent of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia;
Whereas, from the occupation ofKosova in 1989 until the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NA TO) military action against the Milosevic ..egime in 1999, the Albanians of Kosova were subjected to the most brutal treabnent in the heart of Europe since the Nazi era, forcing approximately 400,000 Albanians to flee to Western Europe and the United States;
Whereas in the spring of 1999 almost 1,000,000 Kosovar Albanians were driven out of Kosova and at least 10,000 were murdered by the Semian paramilitary and military;
Whereas Slobodan Milosevic was indicted by the International War Crimes Tribunal and extradited to The Hague in June 200 1 to stand trial for war crimes, crimes against humanity. and genocide in Kosova, Bosnia. and Croatia;
Whereas the United Nations established Kosova as a protectorate tmder Resolution 1244, ending the decade long Serbian occupation ofKosova and Milosevic's genocidal war in Kosova;
Whereas Kosovar Albanians~ together with representatives of the Serb, Turkish, Roma, Bosniak. and Ashkali minorities in Kosova~ have held ftee and fair municipal and general elections in 2000 and 2001 and successfully established a parliament in 2002. which in turn elected a president and prime minister;
Whereas 50 percent of the population jn Kosova is under the age of25 and the unemployment rate is currently between 60 and 70 percent, increasing the likelihood of young people entering criminal networks, the source of which lies outside ofKosova, or working abtoad in order to survive unless massive job creation is facilitated by guaranteeing the security of foreign investments through an orderly tt'ansition to the independence of Kosova;


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Whereas the Kosova parliament is committed to developing a westem~style democracy in which all citizens, regardless of ethnicity, are granted full human and civil rights and are colmnitted to the return of all noncriminal Serbs who fled Kosova during and after the war; and
Whereas there is every reason to believe that independence from Serbia is the only viable option for Kosova, after autonomy has failed time and time again: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved. That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that the United
States should -
(I) recognize the danger that delay in the resolution of Kosova's final status poses for the political and economic viability ofKosova and its neighbors, and consequently for the future of Southeast Europe;
(2) publicly support the independence of Kosova within its existing
borders as a sovereign and democratic state in which human rights, including the
rights of edmic and religious minorities, and the rule of law are respected as the
only way to lasting peace and stability in the Balkans;
(3) establish a monitoring body in conjunction with the United Nations,
the North Atlantic Treaty Organizati~ and other multilateral organizations to
ensure that the new state ofKosova achieves the standards set forth by the UN
Security Council, including the protection of minority rights and security for all of
Kosova. s communities. and to facilitate an orderly transition from a UN
protectorate to a fully functioning democratic govenunent;
(4) work with the Council ofEwupe to develop and implement anti-
racism programs that would be instituted at the level of federal and municipal
governments throughout the Balkans.


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(5) work with the United Nations and North Atlantic Treaty Organization
to facilitate the return of Albanians to their pre-war homes in northern Mitrovica
and its environs aIKi Serbs to theirs in southern Mitrovica and other parts of
Kosova;
(6) provide its share of assistance, trade~ and other programs to support the
govenunent of an independent Kosova and to encourage the further development
of democracy. rule of law, and a free market economic system in Kosova and
throughout the BaJkans.