Prime Minister Edi Rama commented the deployment of the Serbian army in the border with Kosovo. Speaking at the GLOBSEC forum “Open Roads: Balkans Back in Business” being held in Slovakia, Rama said that the Serbian army in Kosovo’s borders has no powers.
“This is the most incredible show of internal politics because the Serbian army in Kosovo’s border has a power that equals zero. It is the same as if the Mexican army would appear in the borders with the United States. What can it do? Absolutely nothing. This is only related to the internal politics.”
The Prime Minister reminded that the situation between Kosovo and Serbia today is not the same as it used to be when the war ended.
“Where were we 10, 20 years ago? We were in a very difficult situation. The Western Balkans are in their best position, even if things between Kosovo and Serbia have not been the greatest. They are only one step away from concluding a historical agreement. Both sides have a kind of hesitation because they can see this will be a reality and will not need to fight each-other anymore. This is the perspective and it is better than ever.”
Rama said that the conflict in the north of Kosovo happened for a simple reason.
“In my point of view, this conflict is not an indicator of concrete issues and it could have been completely avoided. The new mayors were elected only by 1% of the population, while 99% of the population feels unrepresented.”
Also speaking on the region’s accession talks with the European Union, Rama said that the process will take a lot of time and it should not be hurried, but that the Western Balkan countries “must take something more and that something must change in the relations between the EU and the Western Balkans, if we do not wish to see the region move backwards”.
“I am not naïve and I do not ask that the EU should have a direct distribution of its budged for the countries of the Western Balkan, because we all know that when it comes to money, European solidarity is only an optimism and then the war to get the money is the same as in any merciless stock market. However, something new should be created that will take the form of a pre-accession support that would help our countries breathe.”
Alongside his North Macedonian counterpart Dimitar Kovačevski, Rama joked that at the beginning of the process, in a Thessaloniki meeting, they both had hair, whereas now they are bald.
