U.S. pledges support for Balkans

Powell was forced to call off visits to Kosovo and Bosnia

SKOPJE, Macedonia -- U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell is wrapping up a European tour, voicing America's support for democracy in the Balkans.

Bad weather forced Powell was to call off visits to Kosovo and Bosnia on Friday.

He is instead meeting with representatives of Kosovo's ethnic Albanian population and the international administration for the province in the Macedonian capital, Skopje.

The secretary of state still planned to meet Bosnian officials later in Sarajevo, Bosnia's capital.

During Powell's three-day tour he has repeated a U.S. commitment to support Macedonia and to continue to help maintain stability in the Balkans.

Powell's visit to the Balkans follows the recent armed conflict between Macedonian government troops and rebels demanding more rights for the country's ethnic Albanian minority.

"You can be sure of the American support of your efforts, political support, economic support and military support," Powell told Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski on Thursday in a strong endorsement of Macedonian unity.

Reassuring Europe of its role in the Balkans, Powell said the Bush administration had no timetable for the removal of U.S. forces from the region.

"We are constantly talking to our friends in NATO and others who are present in the region to see how best to perform the mission.

"But there is no endpoint. We have established no time by which U.S. troops have to be out."

During the U.S. election campaign, Bush said that he would like to bring U.S. forces home from Balkan peacekeeping missions, which were established in Bosnia and Kosovo during the presidency of his predecessor, Bill Clinton.

With the blessing of the U.S. the foreign ministers of countries of south-east Europe pledged in a conference in Skopje on Thursday to boost co-operation, condemning the recent extremist violence in Macedonia and Bosnia.

"The ministers unanimously rejected the use of violence for achieving political agenda's," said the 11-point statement read by Macedonia's Foreign Minister, Srdjan Kerim. "Such activities have no place in democratic societies."

U.S. aid to the former Yugoslav republic will total more than $55 million in economic assistance, Powell said at the conference.

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Contact Group
U.S. Department of State
Albania
Republic of Macedonia

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