Kosovo Primer Minister Albin Kurti who attended the second day of the 25th addition of the rounbdtable organized by The Economist in cooperation with the Greek Government said on Monday that recognition of Kosovo, cooperation in the region and EU membership is the right way forward for long-term peace, stability, and security.
In the discussion panel on “Southeast Europe: Enhancing Co-operation and Solidarity”, Kurti reiterated the request for Greece to join the countries that have recognized Kosovo.
“Let us not forget that 22 out of 27 EU member states do recognize the Republic of Kosovo and likewise 26 out of 30 NATO member states,” said Pristina’s PM.
In the panel were also Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, the Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Zoran Zaev, the former President of Croatia, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, the President of the “Diktio” Network for Reform in Greece & the former European Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs, Anna Diamantopoulou, and Member of the Hellenic Parliament and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece, George Katrougkalos.
Kurti also spoke about regional cooperation and economic integration of the Western Balkans. Kosovo has already proposed a new framework of cooperation, called SEFTA (Southeast European Free Trade Agreement), which would include all the countries of the Western Balkans as equal members and as such would be based on a special relationship with the European Union, according to the EFTA-EEA model.
There are no reports if the Balkans Schengen was discussed which is opposed by Kosovo and some other regional countries being supported only by Albania, Serbia and North Macedonia. / argumentum.al
