to an imperialist plan to continue weakening countries in the world. Chávez stated that Venezuela supports the position of Russia, that it has the same position as the People's Republic of China and many other countries and he also expressed satisfaction with the position of the government of Spain. He stated he cannot understand how there are countries that accepted Kosovo's move. He accused Washington on 24 March 2008 of trying to "weaken Russia" by supporting independence for Kosovo despite opposition by Serbia and Russia. He called Kosovo's new leader, Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi, a "terrorist" put in power by the US, and noted that the former rebel leader's nom de guerre was "The Snake." Chavez had strongly opposed the NATO intervention in Kosovo in 1999 when he first became president. Netherlands In August 2007, Chávez came in conflict with the Netherlands concerning the Netherlands Antilles. Chávez gave a number of public speeches in which he said that the region ought to be 'freed from colonialism' and claimed that every piece of land within of the Venezuelan coast belongs to Venezuela. Since the Dutch Antilles are positioned off Venezuela, this was interpreted by some Dutch officials as a threat of invasion of Dutch sovereignty, and several political parties requested that the Dutch army be prepared for war, a VVD official referring to the Antilles as "the Dutch Falklands" while other parties dismissed Chávez' speeches as populism with no real intention of invading the Dutch Antilles. According to Radio Netherlands Worldwide, Chávez was not referring to the Netherlands Antilles or Aruba but to the Isla Aves, adding that "...there is nothing to worry about as far as the Netherlands Antilles are concerned, but that doesn't fit in with the US's publicity campaign. The media leave out all this kind of information and simply report that Venezuela wants to expand its borders and, in doing so, is intent on swallowing up the Leeward Islands.[...] The Hague knows there is no claim to Aruba or the Netherlands Antilles, and that President Chávez has not made such a claim in any speech". United Kingdom On 8 February 2006, the British Prime Minister Tony Blair answered a question asked by the MP Colin Burgon about the policy of the United Kingdom towards Venezuela, in the British House of Commons. Blair said: "It is rather important that the government of Venezuela realise that if they want