R. Nicholas Burns To Visit Kosovo

Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns will travel to the United Kingdom and the Balkans June 6-9, the State Department has announced.

Burns will go to London June 6 for a meeting of political directors of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized countries, consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and Russia.

From June 7-9 he will travel to Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Pristina, Kosovo; and Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro. He will discuss U.S. efforts to ensure long-term stability in the Balkans and integration into Euro-Atlantic institutions, as well as the international process for determining Kosovo's future status.

Following is the State Department announcement:

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U.S. Department of State
Office of the Spokesman
June 3, 2005

Statement by Sean Mccormack, Spokesman

UNDER SECRETARY BURNS TRAVEL TO EUROPE
JUNE 6-9, 2005

Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns will travel to London on June 6, 2005, for a meeting of G-8 political directors and for consultations with other European partners. Among the topics to be discussed are the June 23rd G-8 foreign ministers meeting in London, the July G-8 summit in Gleneagles, and developments in Iran, Sudan, and Iraq.

From June 7-9 Under Secretary Burns will travel to the Balkans, with stops in Sarajevo, Pristina and Belgrade. He will meet with local leaders and representatives of international organizations, including NATO, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the UN. He will discuss U.S. efforts to ensure long-term stability in the Balkans and integration into Euro-Atlantic institutions, including support of the work of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, notably the importance of apprehending and transferring Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic to The Hague. Under Secretary Burns will also discuss our vision of Kosovo's future and cooperation with the Contact Group on Kosovo.

Under Secretary Burns will return to Washington, D.C., on June 9.

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(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)