Bush gets a warm welcome in Albania

TIRANA, Albania -- Evidence of Albania's love for the United States lined the road leading into this capital yesterday. US and Albanian flags flew from lampposts. People wearing cardboard Uncle Sam hats milled in the streets. Oversize billboards and banners heralded the American president's visit.

"Albania welcomes President Bush," some of the signs announced. Others proclaimed he was "making history" as the first US president to set foot in the country.

Throughout much of Europe -- particularly in France and Germany -- a Bush visit is frequently seen as cause for protest.

But in this former communist nation, Bush was accorded a hero's welcome. He was awarded the Order of the Flag medal, the nation's highest honor. His visage is on a new line of commemorative postage stamps, and the street in front of the parliament building has been renamed in his honor.

"I'm pleased that George Bush has arrived here in Albania," said Anisa Torozi, 27, who carried a small US flag in this city's central Skanderbeg Square. "He is the president of the United States, which is the state of liberty and peace."

It was the type of reception any president would like. But it must have been especially heartening for Bush, whose vow to foster liberty around the world has faced repeated setbacks in Iraq and elsewhere, and triggered an anti American backlash in many places.

Thousands of protesters shadowed Bush during the German and Italian legs of his seven-country swing through Europe, but none were evident in Albania.

Military cannons blasted a 21-gun salute as Bush's motorcade arrived at the Palace of Brigades, the 1930s-era building that was the home of King Zog, who reigned before World War II. Later, at a news conference, Prime Minister Sali Berisha hailed Bush as "the greatest and most distinguished guest we have ever had in all times."

Bush returned the love -- or some of it.

He repeated his public endorsement of Albania's bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. He also reiterated his support for the independence of Kosovo, a Serbian province under UN supervision. Ethnic Albanians make up the vast majority of Kosovo's population.

"At some point in time, sooner rather than later, you've got to say: Enough's enough -- Kosovo is independent," Bush said.

Responding to a reporter's question in Rome on Saturday, Bush had said a deadline should be set for a UN resolution on Kosovo's independence.

"In terms of the deadline, there needs to be one," he said. "This needs to come -- this needs to happen."

Asked yesterday about when he would like that deadline set, Bush seemed flummoxed. "I don't think I called for a deadline," he said. Told that he had, Bush responded, "I did? What exactly did I say? I said, 'deadline'? OK, yes, then I meant what I said."

He then concluded: "The question is whether or not there is going to be endless dialogue on a subject that we have made up our mind about. We believe Kosovo ought to be independent."

While the United States backs Kosovo's independence, the idea is opposed by Russia, which has threatened to veto that move in the United Nations. Leaders in Kosovo have warned that they might unilaterally declare independence if the UN process remains stalled.

Bush said the only question concerning Kosovo that remains in his mind is what mechanism should be used to achieve independence.

Bush's visit to Albania marked the latest expression of support in a long history between the United States and Albanian people, going back to when President Woodrow Wilson opposed partitioning the nation after World War I. In the late 1990s, US and NATO forces bombed Serbia partly to stop the ethnic cleansing of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, deepening Albania's affection for the United States.

Albania has sent small contingents of troops to Iraq and recently announced that 120 soldiers will join NATO forces in Afghanistan this summer.

"People here understand what evil can do," said Alfred Pllumbi, 28, an airport manager who walked the streets celebrating the president's visit. "And President Bush has fought evil."

Throughout Bush's eight-hour stay , he was treated like a star. Crowds stood in the heat to catch a glimpse of the president's motorcade. They cheered and chanted when he emerged from his vehicle.

At one point, Bush, in shirtsleeves, greeted a throng of exuberant Albanians outside a cafe in Fushe Kruje, a village near Tirana. As Secret Service agents kept a close watch, Bush shook hands and hugged his screaming admirers, one of whom managed to rub his head.

After his visit, Bush flew to Sofia, Bulgaria, last night and is scheduled to meet with that country's leaders before returning to Washington this evening.