The President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci, said he is not optimistic that an agreement with Serbia will be reached. He spoke at the press conference also about last weekend’s speculation for turbulence in the north. According to him, presented fake news showed how far some are from the reality.
“The main issue remains the dialogue between Kosovo state and Serbia. I have said it several times that it is a difficult but a necessary process. Possibilities to reach an agreement with Serbia are minimal. But we should make maximal efforts to use every opportunity in order to reach a historic agreement through dialogue led by the EU and the U.S.,” Thaci said.
“I am committed to reach an agreement and after the request of the representatives of Presevo, I have proposed correction of the border with Serbia, as the only possibility to legitimize requests of Albanians there. This does not mean division for Kosovo, and neither autonomy for Serbs. Correction of borders means complete unification of Presevo Valley, Mdvegje and Bujanovc, which must be e regular, transparent process. If the agreement between Kosovo and Serbia is reached, then no one will be against the dialogue. The time of war has ended, there will be no division, exchange or autonomy. There will be only correction if there is accordance by both sides. According to him, the request of Presevo Valley leaders is institutionalized, however it will be presented at the table of discussions in Brussels.
“This momentum should not be lost, is not used properly, Valley citizens are anyways coming to Kosovo, around 12 thousand people already left from there. Albanians there should enjoy all the rights as the other Albanians. This does not bring fear, but new possibilities. Furthermore, it will be too late if this opportunity is lost. 91 percent of Kosovo citizens support the idea of unification the country with the Valley, therefore politics should only respect the will of the citizens,” Thaci said.
Asked if he has changed his position on Kosovo borders, Thaci said the meeting with Presevo leaders has changed his mind.
“After the meeting with the leaders of the Valley, I have changed, and their request obliges me to institutionalize it, excluding any possibility of division, exchange or some kind of autonomy,” Thaci responded.
Thaci said that without normalization of relations, neither Kosovo nor Serbia can move towards membership.
“If dialogue happens to fail due to our fault, Kosovo could be transformed to some northern Cyprus, Ossetia or Nagorno Karabakh. The EU and U.S. are against this frozen situation, therefore everyone in Kosovo and Serbia should work for a balanced agreement,” Thaci said.
According to him, this is what Kosovo leaders were told in Brussels by Kosovo friends.
During this press conference, Thaci said he is ready to pass leadership of the discussions in Brussels to the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK).
“I am ready for Mr. Hoti to lead the discussions between Kosovo and Serbia. All our potentials will be Hoti’s as chief negotiator, the presidency and majority of political parties, we will all be on his support,” Thaci said.
During today’s press conference, Thaci expressed appreciation to all security institutions for preventing incidents and situations which would have a been a bad message from Kosovo to the World.
He said Kosovo will fulfill all Brussels agreements, including the one on Association, but by respecting the Constitution of Kosovo.
