Proposal that the US Embassy building in Kosovo is named after Engel gets first approval

Bill H.R. 8562, sponsored by the Democrat Congressist Ritchie Torres, was adopted on May 13th on this committee by 39 votes per and seven against.

Now, the bill must be passed on to other procedures in the American House of Representatives and Senate before it can be transformed into law, reports the U.S. Senate. REL, transmission Periscope

Engel died 10 April at age 79. In Kosovo, his figure was praised as the Parliament met at a special session to honour its contribution to the country.

According to the text of the bill, the United States Chancellorial building in Pristina would be officially known as “Eliot L. Engel Building”, while any later reference to the laws, maps, regulations or documents of the US would use this appointment.

The bill was submitted on April 28th by Torres, along with Republicans Michael McCaul and Brian Mass, as well as Democrat Gregory Meeks. All four lawmakers have succeeded Engel at the head of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee.

The current committee chairman is Brian Mast, Republican from Florida.

Mast said that given the support Engel has given for Kosovo, it seems appropriate that the appointment of the Embassy building be done right in Kosovo.

“As a member of Congress, he fought hard in the years of 5090s to support US intervention and prevent atrocities being committed against ethnic Albanians in the Balkans and later worked towards the US recognition of Kosovo”, he said.

During the debate on the bill, Democrat conventioner Gregory W. Meeks spoke of the political heritage of Engel, who had left the American Congress in January 2021 after more than three decades in office.

Meeks said Engel's greatest political legacy is in the new state of Kosovo.

“Elliot was one of the earliest and most vocal supporters for the US and NATO to protect Kosovars suffering from terrible war crimes and genocide by Serbian forces”, Meks said, recalling that it was Engel who asked Washington to recognise Kosovo's independence as he said he continued his work for justice and accountability for war crimes victims in Kosovo and the entire Western Balkans.

“was and is Engel's legacy and his contributions to Kosovo have long been recognised, where roads have been named in his name, even his image is on stamp. And, I remember talking to him about naming roads in his honor, how proud he was of this”, he stressed.

Meanwhile, Republican congresswoman Kieth Self, though supporting the bill, said Engel would like the US Congress to do more for Kosovo.

He made that statement after the preliminary point of the agenda, Self had proposed an amendment through which US military aid for Greece would be dedicated in exchange for recognising Kosovo's independence.

Greece is among four NATO nations and five European Union countries that do not recognise Kosovo, which presents a major obstacle to Pristina's integration into these two institutions.

It's worth a building in honour of Eliot Engel. But, I think if Engel were here today, he would like us to go beyond that because he understood the importance of Kosovo in the Western Balkans. And while I think that he would appreciate naming a building in his honor, I think he would prefer to advance Kosovo into the Western Balkans as the key pillar of stability instead of this”, Self said.

Eliot Engel and Kosovo

Democratic Eliot Engel had represented part of the Bronx neighbourhood in New York City, with a large Albanian population since 1989.

He had been among the main supporters of the US Congress for independence Kosovo declared in 2008. That support made him famous in Kosovo, meanwhile in Serbia he was a controversial figure.

In 2020, during a hearing session in the House of Representatives, Engel had talked about the Western Balkans, and separately about Kosovo, where he had stayed several times.

I've traveled to every country in the Western Balkans several times, met with so many leaders from so many parties and loved the rich diversity of cultures, ethnicities and religions. But no country has touched my heart more than Kosovo”.

Engel had entered Congress until Yugoslavia was violently divided into ethnic lines. He was involved in many regional disputes through his position in the Foreign Affairs Committee, finally gaining his reputation as Balkan expert.

Engel had been among the first US lawmakers to call on Bill Clinton's administration to intervene in 1998 to halt the actions of Yugoslav and Serbian forces in Kosovo.

A decade later, he was even more vocal in Congress for recognising Kosovo's independence from the US. /Periscope