President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, said in an interview to Radio Free Europe in Albanian that he has received assurances from the winning coalition, PAN, and the nominee for prime minister, Ramush Haradinaj, that the new government of Kosovo will be formed without delays. “The issue of mandate is not a matter of preference but of respect for citizens’ legitimacy”, Thaci said. “Kosovo has a winning coalition that came out of 11 June elections. I will respect the Constitution, the laws and the decisions of the Constitutional Court of 2014 and have received confirmation from the nominee of the winning coalition that he has secured sufficient number of deputies to form the new Government”. Thaci added that he is waiting for the certification of election results to sit down with the political spectrum and together set the date to constitute the Assembly and the new Government.

With regards to the possibility of Haradinaj failing to secure enough votes to form the government and giving the mandate to Vetevendosje the second time around, Thaci said he would not want to speculate on future developments. “I don’t want to prejudge. I have confirmation from the nominee that he has the votes. In any circumstance, I think there should be a dialogue between the political spectrum on the future course of action”. Thaci said that inclusion of minority communities in the new government should not be seen as an obstacle but an added value. According to him, all parties should get engaged on an internal dialogue including with the Serbian List.

Speaking about dialogue with Serbia, Thaci said that it is time for the process to move towards an epilogue. He said the new stage of dialogue implies its conclusion in a “broad political agreement, a comprehensive agreement that would pave way to Kosovo’s certain Euro-Atlantic perspective”.  “We have been thinking, in consultation with European Union and strong support from the U.S., to advance this process to the highest political level leading up to full normalisaton of our relations as well as reconciliation between our countries and people”. Asked whether he would lead dialogue with Serbia, Thaci replied: “Of course, based on constitutional and legal responsibilities, President of the country leads and coordinates foreign policy”. “At this new stage of dialogue there will be room for everyone, for all leaders of institutions, the Government, Assembly, opposition parties, civil society, media, analysts and all those who wish to give their contribution”, Thaci noted.