Opposition growing to Kosovo independence

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 (UPI) -- There is growing opposition, on both sides of the Atlantic, to any recognition of a unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo.

A group of former officials from both Bush administrations writes Friday in the commentary pages of the Washington Times -- widely read by conservatives -- that current U.S. policy is "naive in the extreme," and "must be re-examined without delay."

"An imposed settlement of the Kosovo question and seeking to partition Serbia's sovereign territory without its consent is not in the interest of the United States," write John Bolton, formerly George W. Bush's U.S. representative to the United Nations; Lawrence Eagleburger, U.S. secretary of state under the elder Bush; and Peter Rodman who was assistant secretary for international security affairs under Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

They argue that accepting Kosovo's independence -- and pressuring U.S. allies in Europe to do the same -- sets a dangerous and destabilizing precedent for other ethnic and sub-national conflicts.

In Europe, Romanian and Cypriot officials both said Thursday that their governments would not recognize a unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo, according to the EU Observer Web site.

One Serbian report said Romanian President Traian Basescu ruled out any recognition of an independent Kosovo at all.

"My country will not be able to recognize an independence proclamation by Kosovo on any level ... whether coordinated or unilaterally proclaimed," he said, according to the B92.net news Web site.