TIRANA, August 29 – “Satisfaction is not a word we can use, but yes, we are certainly pleased that this impasse has finally come to an end and that Albania and North Macedonia are also already starting the formal process of (EU) membership talks,” has said Prime Minister Edi Rama, who took part in the Strategic Forum of Bled, a project of the Slovenian government, organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia and the Center for European Perspective.
The head of the government, Rama made that comment in a news conference prior to the opening of the deliberations of the Forum on Monday.
Further he said that it is a great shame that the citizens of Kosovo still cannot move freely without visas, while they did this when they were under a barbaric regime, so their liberators are holding them hostage and this is a rather serious paradox and shame of our times.
“Regarding the dialogue between them, I mean between Kosovo and Serbia, I am convinced as I have been that it is not worth wasting so much time, so much energy, instead of sitting down and solving the problems,” he said.
Asked if there is a growing disagreement between the authorities of Albania and Kosovo regarding the relationship with Belgrade, Rama said there is no such thing as Albanian and Kosovo authorities, but there are Albanians in Albania and Albanians in Kosovo as state authorities.
“There is no discrepancy. Of course, we have some differences, which is normal because we are two different states and we fully support Kosovo and the Kosovar authorities when it comes to their persistent request for recognition, but we have a slightly different view on how to get there,” said Rama.
He concluded by saying that Albania is much more in favor of cooperation and building step by step, taking as an example other countries that managed to produce extraordinary success stories from conflict and bloodshed. /Argumentum.al
