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Albania Welcomes Bush With Enthusiasm, Affection
Villagers in Fushe Kruje, near Tirana, hold photos of Laura Bush as they wait to welcome President Bush, the first sitting U.S. president to visit Albania.
(By Gerald Herbert -- Associated Press)
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He then concluded: "The question is whether or not there is going to be endless dialogue on a subject that we have made up our mind about. We believe Kosovo ought to be independent."
The idea is opposed by Russia, however, which has threatened to veto the move in the United Nations. Leaders in Kosovo, meanwhile, have warned that they might unilaterally declare independence if the U.N. process remains stalled.
Bush said the only question concerning Kosovo that remains in his mind is what mechanism should be used to achieve independence.
Bush's visit to Albania marked the latest expression of support in a long history between the United States and the Albanian people, going back to when President Woodrow Wilson opposed partitioning the nation after World War I. In the late 1990s, U.S. and NATO forces bombed Serbia in part to stop the ethnic cleansing of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, deepening Albania's affection for the United States.
Albania has sent small contingents of troops to Iraq and recently announced that 120 soldiers will join NATO forces in Afghanistan this summer.
"People here understand what evil can do," said Alfred Pllumbi, 28, an airport manager who walked the streets celebrating the visit. "And President Bush has fought evil."
Throughout Bush's eight-hour stay here, he was treated like a star. Crowds stood in the baking heat to catch a glimpse of the president's motorcade. They cheered and chanted when he emerged from his vehicle. At one point, Bush, in shirt sleeves, greeted a throng of exuberant Albanians outside a cafe in Fushe Kruje, a village near Tirana. Bush shook hands and hugged his screaming admirers, one of whom managed to rub his head.
Addressing reporters, Bush said he was "proud to be the first American sitting president to visit Albania" and that he hoped his visit would encourage the country's fledgling democracy, which emerged in the 1990s after decades of repressive communist rule.
"I love to come to countries that are working hard to establish the institutions necessary for a democracy to survive," he said.
After his visit, Bush flew to Sofia, Bulgaria, on Sunday night and is scheduled to meet with that country's leaders before returning to Washington on Monday evening.
