(Reuters) - President George W. Bush acknowledged on Monday that the people of Kosovo are independent though he stopped short of formal recognition of the territory's independence.
"We'll watch to see how the events unfold today," Bush said in a live interview aired on NBC television from Arusha, Tanzania. "The Kosovoans are now independent. It's something I've advocated along with my government."
The breakaway majority Albanian territory declared independence from Serbia on Sunday. Most of the European Union's 27 members and the United States are ready to recognize Kosovo, though Spain said on Monday it had made up its mind not to do so.
Bush was in Tanzania as part of a tour of Africa.