President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci said at the Albanian Diaspora summit underway in Tirana that there will be no exchange of territories between Kosovo and Serbia as part of the final agreement. “Partition of Kosovo can only happen over my dead body – no one can take a millimetre of Republic of Kosovo territory, no one can take Trepca, Mitrovica, Ujman or any part of the territory of the Republic of Kosovo,” Thaci is quoted.
He did however say that he does support the idea of “border correction” whereby Presevo Valley municipalities would join Kosovo. “Yes to border correction because there is no one in the world that can deny my engagement for realization of the legitimate rights of Presevo, Medvedja e Bujanovc to join Kosovo without undermining the territory of Kosovo,” Thaci said.
Thaci also rejected the idea of an international conference on Kosovo-Serbia agreement saying this would enable Russia to get involved in the process. “Under no circumstances and at no price will we allow such ideas going around and this need to end at its outset. The idea of a Balkans union is a setback for our nation,” he said.
Thaci said that Kosovo enjoys full support from the U.S. and the EU to reach a comprehensive agreement with Serbia. “The goal is to reach an agreement that guarantees mutual recognition between Kosovo and Serbia and Kosovo’s membership in international organisations.”
