IV 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 24

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States 

should declare its support for the independence of Kosova. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 4, 2005

Mr. LANTOS (for himself and Mr. HYDE) submitted the following resolution; 

which was referred to the Committee on International Relations 

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 

the United States should declare its support for the 

independence of Kosova.

Whereas the United States and the international community 

recognize that a right to self-determination exists as a 

fundamental right of all people; 

Whereas Kosova was constitutionally defined as a sovereign 

territory in the First National Liberation Conference for 

Kosova on January 2, 1944, and this status was confirmed in the Constitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia adopted in 1946, and the amended 

Yugoslav constitution adopted in 1974 preserved the autonomous status of Kosova as a de facto republic; 

Whereas prior to the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia, 

Kosova was a separate political and legal entity with sep-
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HRES 24 IH 

arate and distinct financial institutions, police force, municipal and national government, school system, judicial 

and legal system, hospitals and other independent organizations; 

Whereas Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic rose to power in 

1987 on a platform of ultranationalism and anti-Albanian 

racism, advocating violence and hatred against all nonSlavs and specifically targeting the Albanians of Kosova; 

Whereas Slobodan Milosevic subsequently stripped Kosova of 

its self-rule, without the consent of the people of Kosova; 

Whereas the elected Assembly of Kosova, faced with these intolerable acts, adopted a Declaration of Independence on 

July 2, 1990, proclaimed the Republic of Kosova, and 

adopted a constitution on September 7, 1990, based on 

the international legal principles of self-determination, 

equality, and sovereignty; 

Whereas in recognition of the de facto dissolution of the 

Yugoslav federation, the European community established principles for the recognition of the independence 

and sovereignty of the republics of the former Socialist 

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Kosova fully satisfied 

those principles as a de facto republic within the federation; 

Whereas a popular referendum was held in Kosova from September 26–30, 1991, in which 87 percent of all eligible 

voters cast ballots and 99.87 percent voted in favor of declaring Kosova independent of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia; 

Whereas, from the occupation of Kosova in 1989 until the 

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) military action against the Milosevic regime in 1999, the Albanians 
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of Kosova were subjected to the most brutal treatment in 

the heart of Europe since the Nazi era, forcing approximately 400,000 Albanians to flee to Western Europe and 

the United States; 

Whereas in the spring of 1999 almost 1,000,000 Kosovar Albanians were driven out of Kosova and at least 10,000 

were murdered by the Serbian paramilitary and military; 

Whereas Slobodan Milosevic was indicted by the International 

War Crimes Tribunal and extradited to The Hague in 

June 2001 to stand trial for war crimes, crimes against 

humanity, and genocide in Kosova, Bosnia, and Croatia; 

Whereas the United Nations established Kosova as a protectorate under Resolution 1244, ending the decade long 

Serbian occupation of Kosova and Milosevic’s genocidal 

war in Kosova; 

Whereas Kosovar Albanians, together with representatives of 

the Serb, Turkish, Roma, Bosniak, and Ashkali minorities in Kosova, have held free and fair municipal and 

general elections in 2000 and 2001 and successfully established a parliament in 2002, which in turn elected a 

president and prime minister; 

Whereas 50 percent of the population in Kosova is under the 

age of 25 and the unemployment rate is currently between 60 and 70 percent, increasing the likelihood of 

young people entering criminal networks, the source of 

which lies outside of Kosova, or working abroad in order 

to survive unless massive job creation is facilitated by 

guaranteeing the security of foreign investments through 

an orderly transition to the independence of Kosova; 

Whereas the Kosova parliament is committed to developing a 

western-style democracy in which all citizens, regardless 
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of ethnicity, are granted full human and civil rights and 

are committed to the return of all noncriminal Serbs who 

fled Kosova during and after the war; and 

Whereas there is every reason to believe that independence 

from Serbia is the only viable option for Kosova, after 

autonomy has failed time and time again: Now, therefore, 

be it

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that the United States should—

3 (1) recognize the danger that delay in the reso4 lution of Kosova’s final status poses for the political 

5 and economic viability of Kosova and its neighbors, 

6 and consequently for the future of Southeast Eu7 rope; 

8 (2) publicly support the independence of Kosova 

9 within its existing borders as a sovereign and demo10 cratic state in which human rights, including the 

11 rights of ethnic and religious minorities, and the rule 

12 of law are respected as the only way to lasting peace 

13 and stability in the Balkans; 

14 (3) establish a monitoring body in conjunction 

15 with the United Nations, and North Atlantic Treaty 

16 Organization, and other multilateral organizations to 

17 ensure that the new state of Kosova achieves the 

18 standards set forth by the UN Security Council, in19 cluding the protection of minority rights and secu20 rity for all of Kosova’s communities, and to facilitate 
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1 an orderly transition from a UN protectorate to a 

2 fully functioning democratic government; 

3 (4) work with the Council of Europe to develop 

4 and implement anti-racism programs that would be 

5 instituted at the level of federal and municipal gov6 ernments throughout the Balkans; 

7 (5) work with the United Nations and North 

8 Atlantic Treaty Organization to facilitate the return 

9 of Albanians to their pre-war homes in northern 

10 Mitrovica and its environs and Serbs to theirs in 

11 southern Mitrovica and other parts of Kosova; and 

12 (6) provide its share of assistance, trade, and 

13 other programs to support the government of an 

14 independent Kosova and to encourage the further 

15 development of democracy, rule of law, and a free 

16 market economic system in Kosova and throughout 

17 the Balkans.

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