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Biden to 'renew' ties with Serbia Biden opens new page with Serbia
(1 day later)
US Vice-President Joe Biden is to visit Serbia on Wednesday in a bid to "build a new, healthy relationship" despite stark differences over Kosovo. US Vice-President Joe Biden has assured Serbia that the two countries can open a new page in relations, regardless of differences over Kosovo.
He said the US did not see Serbia accepting Kosovan independence "any time soon" but expected it to co-operate with the EU's work there. Mr Biden is the highest-ranked American to visit Serbia since the US led a Nato bombing campaign to expel Serb forces from Kosovo in 1999.
He will be the most senior US politician to visit Serbia in 29 years. He said the US backed Serbia's plans to join the European Union.
Visiting Bosnia on Tuesday, Mr Biden urged its warring politicians to unite behind the goal of EU membership. Serbian President Boris Tadic said the two states could progress "on the basis of dialogue rooted in mutual respect".
This is a rare visit by a top US official to the Balkans and marks a new effort by the Obama presidency to re-engage with the region, BBC Eastern Europe correspondent Nick Thorpe reports. But he made clear that Serbia would not give ground over its claims to Kosovo, which declared independence last year.
Mr Biden's tour of the region will end in Kosovo. "Serbia does not recognise Kosovo's independence, and would never recognise it. Serbia has the legitimate right to defend its territorial integrity peacefully by diplomatic and legal means," he said.
The ethnic Albanian-majority province formally declared independence last year after breaking away from Serbia nearly a decade earlier when Nato bombing drove out Serbian security forces. Mr Biden said: "The United States does not, I emphasise, does not expect Serbia to recognise the independence of Kosovo.
Independence 'irreversible' "It is not a precondition for our relationship or our support for Serbia becoming part of the European Union," he said.
Addressing MPs in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo, the US vice-president said Washington wanted Serbia to "take its rightful place in Europe as a strong, successful democratic state playing a constructive role in the region". The US and most EU countries have recognised Kosovo's independence, but a majority of countries have not.
God, when will you tire of that rhetoric? US Vice-President Joe Biden attacking nationalist politics in Bosnia A Serbian opposition party is running an anti-Nato exhibition during the visit
"Serbia and the US disagree on Kosovo," he said. Mr Biden is on a tour of the Balkans. On Tuesday he visited Bosnia and on Thursday will go to Kosovo itself.
"We do not expect Serbia any time soon to recognise Kosovo but we do expect Belgrade to co-operate with the EU and other key international actors on Kosovo." The rare visit by a top US official marks a new effort by the Obama presidency to re-engage with the Balkans, BBC Eastern Europe correspondent Nick Thorpe reports.
Insisting Kosovo's independence was "irreversible", he argued that said it was "critically important to [the Balkan] region's stability and progress". But the US remains deeply unpopular among some Serbs.
"The United States is committed to a democratic, multi-ethnic, independent Kosovo and we expect Kosovo to remain committed to powerful protections for all communities and their members, including the Serb community," he added. Belgrade, where protesters torched the US Embassy in February 2008, banned all public gatherings on Wednesday.
Since Kosovo declared independence, the EU has taken over much of the UN's supervisory role in the entity where the authority of the Kosovan government is resisted by most of the remaining Serbs, who maintain close ties with Belgrade. MPs from the hardline nationalist Serbian Radical Party held up banners in parliament saying: "Biden, you Nazi scum, go home."
Belgrade, which saw protesters torch the US Embassy in February 2008, has banned all public gatherings on Wednesday. Another opposition party put on an exhibition of harrowing photos, showing civilian victims of Nato air attacks in 1999.
Some small anti-US demonstrations were reported in Belgrade on Tuesday, and the opposition Democratic Party of Serbia put on an exhibition of harrowing photos, purporting to show civilian victims of Nato air attacks in 1999, as a protest against Mr Biden's visit. Bosnia divided
The last time a top US leader visited Serbia was in June 1980 when President Jimmy Carter toured what was then still Yugoslavia. In Bosnia on Tuesday, Mr Biden urged MPs in the multi-ethnic federal parliament to seize the opportunity they had been offered to integrate their country into the EU.
'Off the path' Your only real path to a secure and prosperous future is to join Europe. Right now, you're off that path Joe Biden urges Bosnia to come together
Turning to Bosnia itself, Mr Biden urged MPs in the multi-ethnic federal parliament to seize the opportunity they had been offered to integrate their country into the EU.
Mr Biden made an impassioned plea to Bosnian MPs to unite
Otherwise, he said, Bosnia would remain among the poorest countries in the region and might even slip back into ethnic chaos.Otherwise, he said, Bosnia would remain among the poorest countries in the region and might even slip back into ethnic chaos.
Criticising nationalist politics, he said: "God, when will you tire of that rhetoric?"Criticising nationalist politics, he said: "God, when will you tire of that rhetoric?"
"This must stop," he added. "Let me be clear: Your only real path to a secure and prosperous future is to join Europe... Right now, you're off that path." "This must stop," he added. "Let me be clear: Your only real path to a secure and prosperous future is to join Europe. Right now, you're off that path."
Washington has traditionally supported a united Bosnia and played a central role in ending the war in the mid-1990s in which more than 100,000 people died.Washington has traditionally supported a united Bosnia and played a central role in ending the war in the mid-1990s in which more than 100,000 people died.
The Dayton peace treaty cemented the division of the country into two republics with only weak federal structures.The Dayton peace treaty cemented the division of the country into two republics with only weak federal structures.
Efforts since then, and constitutional reform, have been largely thwarted by Bosnian Serb governments afraid of losing Serb power in their half of the country, our correspondent says.Efforts since then, and constitutional reform, have been largely thwarted by Bosnian Serb governments afraid of losing Serb power in their half of the country, our correspondent says.
But the EU insists that central institutions be strengthened before Bosnia can be considered for membership.But the EU insists that central institutions be strengthened before Bosnia can be considered for membership.
There were small protests by Bosnian Serb veterans against US policy in the region.