Kosovo FM says Albanian PM's statement misinterpreted

Zagreb, 8 April 2015 (MIA) - Kosovo Foreign Minister Hashim Thaci said in Zagreb on Wednesday that a statement by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama about inevitable unification of Albania and Kosovo was misinterpreted, explaining that Rama referred to the removal of borders between those two countries upon their admission to the European Union, Hina news agency reports. 

"I was with Albanian premier Rama when he was giving that interview, and I can say that his statement was misinterpreted," Thaci said at a news conference in Zagreb after his talks with his Croatian counterpart Vesna Pusic.

Thaci described Rama as a reform-minded politician with a clear vision of his respective country's path and that he had strongly supported dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia with the aim of normalising their bilateral relations.

According to Thaci, Kosovo and Albania share the same vision of the Southeast European region "that will be open in the future, with open borders and enabling free movement in line with the European model".

"There is no talk about changing the border in any way, but about making them less conspicuous where people will be able to move freely in accordance with the European model, as all of us will eventually be a part of the European family," Thaci said.

Thaci insisted that responding in an interview Rama did not speak about "national unification" or about border changes.

Addressing the news conference in Zagreb, Croatian FM Pusic said she could not know what the Albanian premier had thought in his interview released on Monday by the Kosovo broadcaster Klan Kosova, but she welcomed Thaci's interpretation as positive.

Presenting Croatia's position, Pusic stressed that "border change is ruled out in Europe. Borders are not changed, however, admission to the European Union leads to liberalisation of borders among EU members, but their importance is not reduced."

Rama's statement was met with condemnation in Belgrade, with Serbia interpreting the interview as an act of inciting instability in the region.

Asked by Serbian reporters about the matter, Maja Kocijancic, the spokeswoman for the EU Foreign Affairs High Representative Federica Mogherini, said that western Balkan countries had made progress at their respective pace in fulfilling necessary criteria for the EU membership and on that path the EU expected them to continue making further efforts to progress.

Those obligations include regional cooperation, reconciliation and good neighbourly relations, while provocative statements in that context are not acceptable, the spokeswoman said.