Beden sends congratulations to Thaci for independence: I fell in love with Kosovo since my first visit

He has remembered his first visit to Kosovo in 2009, saying the country still has much work to do.

) Kosovo and its citizens are deeply placed in the hearts of the entire Biden family. I fell in love with your country on my first visit as a new United States senator in the mid-70s. The same is true of my son Beau, who for the best part of one year lived and worked in Kosovo, in 2001, to help advance rule of law -- one of the most important goals of every newly independent state -- wrote Biden.

Full letter:

Your Honor. President,

With extraordinary pride and satisfaction, I offer you the deepest congratulations for you and the people of Kosovo on the 10th anniversary of your independence. As you know, I have always believed in the promise of the people of Kosovo to build a nation rooted in fundamental values of justice and equality.

In a brief decade, you have been staunchly waging a battle for independence, welcomed into the community of nations, built a representative democracy, where free and fair elections have become the norm, and the human rights encoding has become law. You have now established the solid foundations of a democratic state. Nongovernmental organisations are active, citizens freely debate day-to-day issues, and actions of tolerance and reconciliation spot the landscape.

One of the first trips I made as vice president was to visit Kosovo in 2009. My visit to the country several years later was also one of my last official visits as vice president. I was very impressed to take a close look at the progress noted at that time, thanks to the fearless courage and unwavering persistence of the people of Kosovo. While there is still much work to be done there, you are rapidly moving to become a fully integrated European democracy a peaceful democracy with its neighbours in which all citizens are treated with dignity.

Kosovo and its citizens are deeply placed in the hearts of the entire Biden family. I fell in love with your country on my first visit as a new United States senator in the mid-70s. The same is true for my son, Beau, who for the best part of a year lived and worked in Kosovo, in 2001, to help advance rule of law. And every future member of the Biden family who makes the pilgrimage to visit the designated highway in honor of Beau, outside of Camp Bondsteel, will certainly feel so deeply part of your continued success, as I feel.

Beau came to Kosovo as an adviser to the US Department of Justice to help institutions fight corruption and create an equal society for all citizens. He continued his battle for the same goals in my hometown of the American state of Delaware, where he served as the attorney general. Beau, like many American patriots, knew very well that the work of democracy never works. Even in the United States, we have to keep working every day. Beau, like many Native Americans, knew well that the work of democracy has never been done. We have to keep working every day in the United States.

Kosovo is a new state, but not too young to know what its citizens need and what they deserve. I am confident that citizens of this great country will continue to build a stable, free, democratic and prosperous Kosovo that manifests multi-year-old hopes and dreams. And I believe that with such a Kosovo the world itself will be better. Today, while celebrating your many successes, you know that the United States is, has been and will always be a true friend of the people of Kosovo. We enjoy your successes and we will work to help you overcome the challenges facing all democracies. And I know that I personally continue to stay with the people of Kosovo. Your soul is free, inhospitable, and your future is bright. I'm looking forward to what the next ten years will bring.