President George W. Bush, making the first visit to Albania by a US leader, insisted Sunday it was time to press ahead with independence for Kosovo, despite the strenuous objections of Russia.
Rejecting the idea of an "endless dialogue" on the future status of the Albanian-majority Serbian province, Bush stressed the importance of acting swiftly on UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari's proposal that would see Kosovo break away from Belgrade's control.
"We need to get moving and the end result is independence," Bush said during a joint press conference with Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha.
The Ahtisaari plan is backed by Kosovo Albanian leaders, the United States and the European Union, but adamantly opposed by Serbia and its ally Russia, which has threatened to block it before the UN Security Council.
Bush said US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would work hard to secure a resolution acceptable to the Council, including Russia.
"If not, we're gonna have to move. Independance is the goal," he said.
The president had arrived in the Albanian capital earlier Sunday to something of a hero's welcome.
Posters declaring "Albania Welcomes President Bush" were plastered across Tirana, and star-spangled banners and portraits of the American leader festooned the streets.
The welcome was in stark contrast to the scenes in Rome less than 24 hours before, when tens of thousands of anti-Bush protestors had taken to the streets during the president's visit.
The thousands who turned out in Tirana's central Skenderberg Square were overwhelmingly supportive of the president, wearing stars and stripes hats and waving US flags.
"Bush is the president of the world. He is like a king to me," said 18-year-old student Arian Geka.
"Support in some countries is higher than in others," remarked US national Security spokesman Gordon Johndroe.
The president's seven-hour stay included a meeting with President Alfred Moisiu, as well as Berisha and the prime ministers of Croatia and Macedonia.
He will then travel on to Bulgaria, the final stop of his European tour which also took him to the Czech Republic, Poland and Italy in addition to the G8 summit in Germany.
At the summit, French President Nicolas Sarkozy had proposed a six-month pause for reflection on Kosovo's status before implementing any proposal.
But Bush made it clear in Tirana that the time for reflection was over and warned of possible unrest if the aspirations of the Kosovo Albanians were put on the backburner.
"At some point in time, sooner rather than later, you got to say 'enough's enough, Kosovo's independent'," Bush said.
"I'm worried about expectations not being met in Kosovo," he added.
Albania's post-communist era enthusiasm for the United States was reinforced after the US-led NATO intervention in the 1998-1999 Kosovo conflict, during which US bombers targeted Serb forces loyal to Slobodan Milosevic to end their crackdown on Kosovo Albanians.
According to a recent survey, 61 percent of Albanians perceive the United States as the "best advocate" of their country's interests.
Albania has contributed symbolically to the US-led coalition forces in Iraq by dispatching a small group of 120 soldiers.
It has declared itself ready to shelter one or more permanent US bases, hoping in return for Washington's support in its bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation in 2008.
Bush congratulated Albania on its ongoing defence reforms, but added that more work was needed before it met the performance-based standards required of NATO membership.
Kosovo has not been the only thorn in the side in US-Russian relations recently, with Moscow also furious at Washignton's plans to extend a US anti-missile shield into Central Europe.
At the G8 summit, Putin proposed a compromise whereby the US would be granted joint use of a radar station in Azerbaijan.
"I thought his statement was important," Bush said in Tirana. "He recognised that there's an opportunity to work together, that's what friends do."
