(21 May 2009) SHOTLIST
Pristina
1. Wide of Kosovo assembly
2. Mid of international officials
3. US Vice President Joe Biden walking into assembly
4. Cutaway of US and Kosovo flags
5. Biden walking up to podium to applause
6. Cutaway of camera operators
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Joe Biden, US Vice President:
++AUDIO AS INCOMING++
"Kosovo's independence was and remains today, in my view and in the view of my government, the only viable option for stability in the region. And your independence, as I've said in the countries I've visited, your independence is irreversible, absolutely irreversible."
8. Biden receiving a standing ovation UPSOUND: applause
9. Biden shaking hands with lawmakers as they applaud him UPSOUND: applause
10. Various of Biden receiving a framed copy of Kosovo's declaration of independence UPSOUND: applause
Decani
11. Wide of monastery building
12. Monks
13. Biden's convoy arriving
14. Various of Biden walking into monastery with Father Sava
15. Various of Decani monastery
Mitrovica
16. People arriving at rally at bridge in Mitrovica
17. Boy at rally holding flowers in front of monument dedicated to Serb soldiers killed in the 1999 NATO strike
18. People at rally
19. Man holding wreath
20. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) Ljubomir Kragovic, Serb Radical Party:
"Today he (US Vice President Joe Biden) is walking around Kosovo, the state that he created with his friends. But, here we have people who do not accept this. If he says that this is an independent state, we have the same right to say that we do not accept this independent state."
21. Wide of people applauding
22. Various of people laying wreaths and lighting candles at memorial
23. Various of people walking through streets demonstrating against visit of US Vice President Joe Biden
24. Wide of US and Montenegro flags
25. Various of demonstrators burning flags
STORYLINE
US Vice President Joe Biden assured Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders on Thursday the tiny territory's declaration of independence from Serbia would not be reversed.
Biden's visit on Thursday is the first by a senior US official since Kosovo proclaimed its independence last year from Serbia - a change Serbia has vowed never to accept.
Talking to Kosovo's lawmakers in the capital Pristina, Biden said Kosovo's independence was "the only viable option for stability in the region."
"Your independence, as I've said in the countries I've visited, your independence is irreversible, absolutely irreversible," Biden said.
Biden was frequently interrupted by thunderous applause from Kosovo's lawmakers, representatives of a country struggling to establish itself in the face of strong opposition from Serbia and its allies who reject Kosovo's independence.
So far, Kosovo has been recognised by 60 states, with Bahrain the latest and including the United States and 22 countries of the European Union. Serbia and Russia are firmly opposed to Kosovo's statehood.
The recognition stops short of garnering enough support to allow Kosovo to join the United Nations, although the tiny state of two (m) million has recently joined the International Monetary Fund.
Since the declaration of independence last year, Kosovo's government has failed to stretch its authority in the Serb-dominated north and has relied heavily on international support to prevent the ethnic partition of the country.
But in a speech broadcast live by Kosovo's televisions he also called on ethnic Albanians to reach out to the isolated Serb minority by engaging them in dialogue and offering protection.
They later led a protest march and burnt US and Montenegro flags.
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