National unification with Albania is mentioned often during electoral campaigns in Kosovo. Ramush Haradinaj, chairman of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, sent a message to the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic while asking him to recognize Kosovo’s independence.
Haradinaj has declared that if Vucic doesn’t do anything about this then the next step would be the “Unification of Albania”. This statement was given this weekend during the last electoral activity for the AAK.
“I ask your vote for a program that will revive the economy, for these people by my side that are doctors of science, economists, jurists, architects, engineers… I also ask your vote for the post of President, who is going to commit to working for Kosovo, accomplish international plans, and even deal with our issues with Serbia so that every citizen of this nation can feel proud,” – said Haradinaj.
AAK’s main moto is “Haradinaj for President” which means that its obvious purpose after these parliamentary elections on February 14, is to bring about a new political atmosphere where the president’s post, given up by Hashim Thaci, will automatically go to the leader of AAK.
“When I become President […] I greet Vucic and tell him to get ready to recognize Kosovo… don’t keep delaying it as we are not looking to wait. We have built a new army and a new judicial governance. We have our way, we can unite with Albania, so you don’t have any other way, you should recognize [Kosovo],” – said Haradinaj.
13 years ago, on February 17th Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia, which after the separation of Yugoslavia until 1999 had kept Kosovo under its own jurisdiction only giving it an autonomous status.
The armed conflict, which took thousands of lives, obligated the North-Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the United Nations to intervene and give their support to the formation of a new multi-ethnic state. Nonetheless, Serbia has never accepted this independence and has continuously and profusely lobbied for as many countries as possible to fail to recognize Kosovo and to refuse their membership in international organizations.
This lobbying against Kosovo, became a reason why the administration led by Ramush Haradinaj 3 years ago, imposed a 100% tax on Serbian products. This tax escalated the deterioration of relations and resulted ultimately in the suspension of the process of dialogue between both countries, which had started 10 years ago.
