Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama until yesterday afternoon did not receive any protest notes and letters from Serbia and the international community on the occasion of his statements about a possible unification of Albania and Kosovo, if the EU does not start integration of Kosovo, briefly told Danas, Rama’s political adviser Shkëlzen Maliqi. Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said yesterday that the statement of Rama on the unification of Kosovo and Albania was misinterpreted and that at no time was discussed the possibility of national unification or change of the borders.
“In no case we talk about changing the borders, but about reducing their visibility, by the European model, so that people could move freely. We will all one day belong to the European space,” Thaci said in Zagreb, where he met with Croation President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic and the Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic.
When asked by journalists about the statement of Edi Rama that Kosovo and Albania would unify or in the EU or in a classical way, which has sparked criticism from the EU and Serbia, Thaci said that Rama has a clear European vision of Albania and that he strongly supported dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia.
Serbian officials strongly reacted in the last two days over the statements of Albanian Prime Minister and Maja Kocijancic, Spokeswoman for EU, pointed out that such provocative statements are unacceptable. Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said yesterday that it was good that the EU reacted to the statement of Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, and the possibility of unification of Kosovo and Albania, although, as he had noted, the EU has “done it shyly.”
“It is time to stop redrawing borders in the Balkans,” said Vucic. He added that Serbia will continue to seek good relations with Albania and will insist on it, “but at all times clearly we will tell them what it is that it can and what it is that it cannot pass in the Balkans,” stressed Vucic.
Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said that the statement of Albanian Prime Minister on the unification of Albania and Kosovo was nothing new, but that it was disputable that only a small number of people reacted. He called on the EU and the international community to react.
On the other hand, the head of Croatian diplomacy Vesna Pusic said she did not know exactly what was said by Albanian Prime Minister, but that in Europe there are no changes of borders. Pusic added that with membership in the EU comes and the liberalization of borders whose importance decreases, but equally, for example, between Kosovo and Albania as well as between Kosovo and Serbia or Montenegro. She reiterated that Croatia strongly supports European integration of all countries in the region.
