President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, said today at the cornerstone-laying ceremony for the crossing point between Kosovo and Serbia in Merdare that Kosovo is strengthening its international standing through taking part in the dialogue with Serbia and that the process will end in mutual recognition. “The laying of this foundation is another testimony that we have pursued the road of dialogue, we pursued the road of building new bridges of cooperation. Kosovo has always respected freedom and movement and this is why we signed the agreement in Brussels,” Thaci said.

President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, said today at a conference organised by the OSCE that journalism in Kosovo may not be the oldest in the region but it is definitely one of the bravest. He said that although often faced with pressure, intimidation and even death, journalists in Kosovo have never ceased to seek the accurate information and publish it.

On today’s first meeting of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci said hostilities that have caused wars are still present and dominate social discourse. “There is still a gap between the communities and this could still keep us in the depths of hatred and hostilities caused by war.” Thaci said adding that Kosovo society cannot build a better future if it remains prisoner of the past.

President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, said in an interview to RTK that there will be no visa liberalisation for Kosovo until the Assembly ratifies border demarcation agreement with Montenegro. “If ratification does not happen this month, then there would immediately be liberalisation but if this is delayed for another 2-3 years, liberalisation will also be postponed that much,” Thaci said. He called on Kosovo Assembly members to put the interests of Kosovo before party ones.

President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, has travelled on a two-day visit to Brussels where he is scheduled to meet President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, and President of the European Commission, Jean Claude Juncker. In the meetings, Thaci is expected to urge the EU institutions to grant Kosovo visa liberalisation and step up Kosovo’s EU integration process, a press statement issued by Thaci’s office states.

NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg will visit Kosovo tomorrow. His visit was announced by a KFOR press release.  During his visit, Stoltenberg will meet the COMKFOR, Major-Genral Giovanni Fungo.

He will also meet with KFOR troops and the key international representatives in Kosovo.

President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, and Serbian Prime Minister, Aleksandar Vucic, in a telephone conversation ahead of their meeting in Brussels reaffirmed the need for de-escalating tensions and resolving outstanding issues through dialogue. Sources in Brussels told RFE that the telephone conversation between the two leaders took place Wednesday morning.

The second round of the high level discussions between Kosovo and Serbia will be held on Wednesday.

On Jan. 28, High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini invited the Serbian and Kosovo prime ministers to attend a new round of talks in Brussels, on Feb. 1. The meeting to be attended by Prime Ministers Aleksandar Vucic and Isa Mustafa is the follow-up to a Jan. 24 meeting in Brussels, attended by Vucic and Mustafa, as well as the Serbian and Kosovo presidents, resulting in an agreement to lower tensions.

In an interview with Deutsche Welle, President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci said that Belgrade should be pressured to stop undermining Kosovo’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. “Seeing Brussels silence, Belgrade gets more encouraged to proceed with its plans to annex the northern part of Kosovo and join it to Serbia,” said Thaci adding that such a scenario will not unfold as Kosovo will use its constitutional and legal power to prevent it.