Kosovo’s Foreign Minister, Enver Hoxhaj, said today that the universal recognition of Kosovo’s independence and statehood remains the top priority of Kosovo’s foreign policy. In his report to the Kosovo Assembly’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Hoxhaj said his ministry was making outstanding efforts to increase the number of recognitions of Kosovo’s independence. “Kosovo will get three new recognitions by the end of the year. One country has already made this decision and it is a matter of weeks before they announce their recognition of Kosovo’s independence,” Hoxhaj added. Hoxhaj further said that a Task Force has been established to support the Kosovo Police Regional Director Nehat Thaci who was recently arrested by Serbian authorities at the Koncul border crossing point. “Over the last couple of days, we have dealt intensively with Nehat Thaci’s arrest. We will do everything in our power to have Thaci released from detention as soon as possible,” he added. Hoxhaj argued that in the last two-three weeks, Serbia has engaged in a provocative agenda in the region. Hoxhaj also commented on the ban against Serbian Government’s Office for Kosovo Director Marko Djuric. “I have decided not to approve two separate visit requests by Marko Djuric because of his provocative statements and actions that do not serve the normalisation of relations between our countries and which are against the interests of Kosovo Serbs. We are ready to act in the same way in the future if Djuric continues to act this way. Djuric does not respect the state and police of Kosovo during his visits here,” he added. Hoxhaj called for support from all Kosovo’s institutions for visa liberalisation, adding that the key criteria for visa-free travel is the border demarcation with Montenegro.
