White House backs Kosovo ahead of court decision

[Valin]

Washington Times:

Officials: Independence 'irreversible'
Benjamin Birnbaum
7/21/10

The Obama administration is standing firmly in Kosovo's corner ahead of Thursday's International Court of Justice (ICJ) decision on the legality of its unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia.
Kosovo Prime Minister Hasim Thaci met Wednesday with Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and other adminsitration officials to discuss the upcoming decision, which comes nearly two years after the U.N. General Assembly referred the case to the ICJ at Serbia's behest.
Kosovo declared independence from Belgrade in February 2008, after nearly nine years of U.N. receivership that followed NATO's 1999 military intervention against the forces of then-Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic.

"The vice president reaffirmed the United States' full support for an independent, democratic, whole and multi-ethnic Kosovo whose future lies firmly within European and Euro-Atlantic institutions," the White House said in a statement. "The vice president also reiterated the United States' firm support for Kosovo's sovereignty and territorial integrity."
(Snip)