Rama: Serbia, Albania play important role in preserving peace

Tirana, 27 May 2015 (MIA) - Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has said that the Albanians and the Serbs are being offered to act for the benefit of their countries and the entire region and to do what the Germans have done for themselves after World War II, Tanjug reports.

Rama made the statement at a joint press conference with Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic in Tirana on Wednesday.

Rama bid Vucic welcome and said that he hoped he would make a good impression on the Serbian prime minister so that Vucic would be able to tell his compatriots they should feel free to visit Albania, especially during the summer.

Us having different opinions about certain things does not mean that we are not aware of the fact that the two countries play an important role in preserving peace, said Rama.

Rama said he believed that they would be able to improve relations together and continue to pursue the agenda for a region without borders, helping remove barriers in trade, culture and science.

I hope that we will move forward on the road to the EU together, said Rama.

PM Vucic said Serbia treats and will continue to treat Kosovo as its integral part.

He underlined that regardless of their diverging stances on Kosovo, Serbia and Albania should not tighten their relations, but rather come to terms with these differences and make sure that they are on the same page.

Thanking the Albanian prime minister for the warm welcome, Vucic said that the two peoples are neighbors, which is a fact that will never change, and therefore they should solve all problems through dialogue.

The fact is that we disagree about Kosovo-Metohija. Serbia treats and will continue to treat it as its integral part, while Albania treats Kosovo as an independent country. Nevertheless, I believe that these discrepancies can be mitigated through dialogue and in a peaceful manner, Vucic said.

The Albanian prime minister highlighted the importance of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, adding that its continuation is of vital importance for the entire region.

However, he said that Tirana wants more to be done for ethnic Albanians in the Presevo region, southern Serbia. They want to be treated the same as Serbs in northern Kosovo, Rama said.