A statue of former U.S. President Bill Clinton was unveiled in Pristina, capital of Kosovo, on Sunday, in recognition of his efforts to stop the ethnic cleansing of the region by Serbian forces in the late 1990s.
Mr Clinton was present as the 11-foot statue was unveiled on a major boulevard in the city that bears his name also.
During his first visit to Kosovo, whose population is predominantly ethnic Albanian, since its declaration of independence from Serbia in 2008 - the U.S. and many E.U. countries recognize the Republic of Kosovo but, as
Reuters reports, the likes of Russia, China and, most significantly, Serbia, which still claims sovereignty over the region, are amongst those who do not recognize its independence - Mr Clinton was greeted by crowds waving American, Albanian and Kosovo flags and chanting "U.S.A".
The
Associated Press notes that the statue, which has been sprayed gold, portrays Mr Clinton, who last visited the region in 2003 to receive an honorary university degree, with his left arm raised and a portfolio in his right hand. His name is on the portfolio that he is holding, as is the date March 24 1999, the day NATO began bombing Yugoslavia, by then the former communist republic equated to what is modern day Serbia and Montenegro, in order to end the campaign of ethnic cleansing being conducted in Kosovo by Serbian forces receiving orders from Slobodan Milosevic.
Milosevic died from an heart attack in 2006 whilst in prison in the Hague in the Netherlands, where he was on trial for war crimes.
The members of the 120-seat assembly in Kosovo heard Mr Clinton tell them that forgiveness and looking past the violence that has afflicted their state, as some consider it to be, was important. According to
Reuters he made reference to the fact that Kosovo must be a multi-ethnic state in which Serbs and other minorities also have a stake.
As many as 10,000 Kosovo Albanians were killed when Serb forces moved in to the region, which was an autonomous province during communist times, to confront the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). Some 800,000 other ethnic Albanians fled to Macedonia, Albania and Montenegro to escape the violence.
A 14,000-strong NATO peacekeeping force remains in Kosovo to this day. The U.S. has 1,000 soldiers in the region, having supplied 6,000 troops when the peace-keeping force first moved in.
Many of those who left Kosovo to escape the Serb forces returned once the peace-keepers arrived.
Mr Clinton is not the only Western politician to enjoy popularity in Kosovo. His successor as U.S. President, George W. Bush has a street in central Pristina named after him. Whilst Madeleine Albright, U.S. Secretary of State between 1997 and 2001, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair are popular too amongst the ethnic Albanian majority in Kosovo.
Indeed
Reuters says that babies in Kosovo are sometimes named after Mr Clinton, Ms Albright or Mr Blair.
