(by Cristiana Missori) (ANSAmed) – ROME, APRIL 14 – Kosovo has nothing to hide with regards to accusations against it of organ trafficking during the 1998-99 Kosovo war, Kosovar Foreign Minister Enver Hoxhaj told ANSAmed on Monday.
Council of Europe rapporteur Dick Marty alleged in a 2010 report that senior commanders of the rebel ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) were involved in trafficking the organs of their civilian prisoners during and after the 1998-99 Kosovo war.
”We are ready to answer those accusations, in order to close out this chapter that damages our country’s image once and for all”, the minister said in Rome, where he meets with his Italian counterpart Federica Mogherini on Tuesday.
”We will not do so in an international tribunal, but rather in a special court that will sit in two venues, one in Pristina and the other in a city outside Kosovo”, he added.
”We don’t know when the court will be in session nor its composition, but we are certain it will be fully integrated into the Kosovar justice system”, Hoxhaj said.
The agenda for tomorrow’s meetings includes a series of requests as well as results, he went on.
”We will take stock of the results Kosovo has achieved in the last few months”.
Topping the agenda is the next round of negotiations with Serbia to be held in Brussels, but for which no date has yet been set.
Kosovo also hopes to ”be able to conclude a Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU by mid-June this year”, and to attract ”many more Italian investors to Kosovo”, Hoxhaj said.
”Italy already has a strong presence in Albania, Serbia and Montenegro. But we have the best investment climate in the region, including laws that protect investors”, the minister pointed out.
Another crucial issue for the country’s future, said Hoxhaj, is that of travel visas.
”We are the only nationality in Europe that is required to obtain a visa in order to move around freely, which violates the human rights of our citizens”, he explained.
Pristina expects Italy to move forward on this issue during its six-month EU presidency, which begins July 1.
Kosovo is heading towards early elections, added Hoxhaj.
”Right now we don’t know when they will take place”, he said. But what is certain is that they won’t bring about a renewal, because the current political class is here to stay for the next four to five years. ”We are the generation that brought Kosovo to its independence, and that has guaranteed our society its economic growth, with GDP increasing from 1% before 2008 to 4-5% today”, Hoxhaj remarked. (ANSAmed).
