BBC News report on Biden's trip to the Balkans

[Muttocracy]

photos and full article at link - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8058653.stm

Biden opens new page with Serbia

US Vice-President Joe Biden has assured Serbia that the two countries can open a new page in relations, regardless of differences over Kosovo. 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 said the US backed Serbia's plans to join the European Union.

Serbian President Boris Tadic said the two states could progress "on the basis of dialogue rooted in mutual respect". But he made clear that Serbia would not give ground over its claims to Kosovo, which declared independence last year.

"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.

Mr Biden said: "The United States does not, I emphasise, does not expect Serbia to recognise the independence of Kosovo...It is not a precondition for our relationship or our support for Serbia becoming part of the European Union," he said. The US and most EU countries have recognised Kosovo's independence, but a majority of countries have not.

Mr Biden is on a tour of the Balkans. On Tuesday he visited Bosnia and on Thursday will go to Kosovo itself. 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.

But the US remains deeply unpopular among some Serbs. Belgrade, where protesters torched the US Embassy in February 2008, banned all public gatherings on Wednesday. MPs from the hardline nationalist Serbian Radical Party held up banners in parliament saying: "Biden, you Nazi scum, go home." Another opposition party put on an exhibition of harrowing photos, showing civilian victims of NATO air attacks in 1999.

...

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. 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?"

"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.

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. But the EU insists that central institutions be strengthened before Bosnia can be considered for membership.

[Muttocracy]

1. audio clip about Biden in Serbia

this was from the wee hours of this morning - happened to hear it then

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/video_and_audio/8059240.stm

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

2. I absolutely ADORE Joe! He gets a bad rap, even from Democrats. It's sad. n/t

[Muttocracy]

3. He's called a gaffe machine yet others pick up on language he uses

e.g., people writing articles about Sec. Clinton talking about smart power ; Gibbs throwing in the term inflection point all the sudden

Biden didn't invent those phrases, but darned if other people don't use them more after they hang out with him :)

Funny, if Biden's such a loose cannon, how did he manage to chair Judiciary or Foreign Relations for decades without causing an international incident, terrorist strike, failure of federal criminal case, etc.?

Fortunately, I think 'cause Biden's been to hell and back a couple of times, this stuff doesn't even phase him.

I'm glad he has the guts to go to the Balkans, knowing he'll be controversial there for pushing Pres. Clinton into intervene in the 1990s.

[spanone]

4. that's nice, i've seen nothing about it here in the states

[Muttocracy]

5. lots of photos here now - sometimes that's the only way I know what Biden's up to

reading the photo captions! Whitehouse.gov did post a very short press release about the Balkans trip last week.

http://www.daylife.com/search/photos/1/grid?q=biden

[spanone]

6. thanks

[asphalt.jungle]

7. haha @ this picture

all it takes for these policemen to take their eye off the ball is women in short dresses walking by.


http://www.daylife.com/photo/05kB3e61QVbBz?q=biden

[Muttocracy]

8. hey, you looked too ;-)

[PatSeg]

9. Yeah

If you want to hear about Biden, he either has to get another dog, buy a hamburger, or make a "perceived" gaffe. Most Americans don't have a clue what a busy and productive VP he has been.

[Muttocracy]

10. Pretty soon he'll have to go buy hamburgers for Bo and Champ to get noticed

:D

[Muttocracy]

11. Whitehouse.gov - joint statement from Biden and Solana on Balkans

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Joint-Statement-issued-by-United-States-Vice-President-Joe-Biden-and-European-Union-High-Representative-for-Common-Foreign-and-Security-Policy-Javier-Solana/

(what a link title!)

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Vice President

___________________________________________________________

For Immediate Release May 20, 2009


Joint Statement issued by United States Vice President Joe Biden and European Union High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana

"As representatives of the United States and the European Union, we visited Sarajevo with a message of support and concern. We support Bosnia and Herzegovina, a single state with two entities. We support the Dayton Accords. We support the aspirations of the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina to join European and Trans-Atlantic institutions. We also support the reforms that will be needed to realize this European future. And we support leaders who have the courage to reach across the ethnic divide to find compromise, build trust, foster stability and bring prosperity to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"We are concerned by statements and actions in recent years that threaten the territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the powers of the state, and the rights of the entities. We are also concerned by economic conditions and note the need for greater fiscal controls, financial accountability and transparency. And we are concerned for the independence of judicial institutions and the rule of law.

"This year Bosnia and Herzegovina can take an important step towards NATO and EU membership by completing the five objectives and two conditions set by the Peace Implementation Council for the closure of Office of the High Representative and the transition to the Office of the EU Special Representative. The remaining steps are clear: resolution of the distribution of state property between the state and the entities; resolution of defense property, including destruction of excess weapons, ammunition and explosives; and a positive assessment by the Peace Implementation Committee of the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina based on compliance with the Dayton Agreement. We will look for progress by June and completion in October. We welcome and applaud High Representative Inzko’s leadership in guiding this process.

"This transition is just a first step, and much more work will be needed. Movement on the path to EU and NATO membership will bring genuine benefits to the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina. These could eventually include: visa-free travel; increased trade and investments; support for economic development and a prosperous, stable future for BiH, in an integrated Western Balkans region. This will require concerted effort and compromise to achieve needed reform, including a functioning BiH Constitution.

"The United States and the EU will support this process of growth and reform. And we look forward to returning to a Bosnia and Herzegovina that is progressing deliberately on the path towards the EU and NATO."

###

[jillan]

12. I love that they are dangling an invitation to the EU to Bosnia -

Seems like a brilliant strategy to me.

Of course, not one word in the US media about any of this. All they talk about is Newt, Cheney and Rush.