Mustafa: Unreasonable to talk about Serbia’s return 17 years after the war (Koha)
Kosovo’s Prime Minister Isa Mustafa met with representatives of civil society organizations in Pristina today to discuss the political crisis. Mustafa said the government of Kosovo is greatful for the role that civil society, media and others are playing in emerging from the crisis. “The Republic of Kosovo is a state for all its citizens; a compromise made by the native Albanian majority. The Republic of Kosovo is a joint project belonging to its citizens and allies. Since June 1999, Serbia is our only neighbor with whom we have had constant disagreements. Kosovo is an independent and sovereign country oriented toward Euro-Atlantic integration... Let me also say that I find it unreasonable to talk about Serbia’s return to Kosovo, 17 years after the war”. Mustafa said the participation of minority communities in the project for an independent and sovereign state of Kosovo was an international obligation for minority rights. “It is our obligation to provide these opportunities to members of non-majority communities in our country; these are obligations that we have assumed before our allies”. Mustafa further said that Kosovo has managed to find a common language with all minority communities and to integrate them, especially the Serb community, in the central government. “This is the first mandate in which we have managed to integrate the Serb municipalities from the northern part of Kosovo. I think these are undeniable achievements,” he said. Commenting on protests by the opposition, Mustafa said violence is not an alternative. “Obstructing the work of Kosovo’s institutions is not an alternative; violence is not an alternative. Violence threatens the functioning of the state of Kosovo, it damages our image and it serves as encouragement for the opponents of Kosovo’s independence”. Mustafa said the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities will be created based on the ruling of the Constitutional Court and Kosovo laws. On the border demarcation agreement with Montenegro, Mustafa said Kosovo would not lose a single square meter of its territory as a result of the agreement. “I don’t believe there is a single member of parliament that would agree on Kosovo losing its territory. However, we need to discuss this issue based on evidence only... I am confident that the opposition is opposing these agreements [Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities and the border demarcation agreement with Montenegro] so as to score political points and gain power. We need to provide evidence to back our claims to avoid our country finding itself in an unpleasant situation. We need to create opportunities for debate in the Assembly, because violence both in and out of the Assembly is showing that the opponents of these agreements are not ready for dialogue,” Mustafa said. Mustafa also said that there would be no early parliamentary elections in Kosovo.