TIRANA, March 27, 2023 – Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti visited Tirana over the weekend, holding discussions with Albania’s top leaders and focusing on his country’s ongoing dialogue with Serbia, which has been high on the agenda in recent months.
Earlier this year, agreements to normalize relations between Kosovo and Serbia were made in Brussels and Ohrid, but it is unclear how they will be implemented since Serbia says it will not sign deals with Kosovo as it does not recognize it as an independent state.
Kosovo’s government, however, sees the latest deal in Ohrid as a de facto recognition of its independence by Serbia, something that Belgrade says is not true. An annex to the agreement, which Serbia refused to sign but verbally agreed to, provides further details, including the creation of a Joint Monitoring Committee chaired by the EU.
Following his meeting with his Kosovo counterpart, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said he encouraged Mr. Kurti to work on the contentious issues included in the agreement between Kosovo and Serbia.
Mr. Rama said in a statement the process was “not easy” but that Mr. Kurti had his “full support” to get it done.
Mr. Kurti said in a statement that his meeting with Mr. Rama “discussed the constructive approach” of Kosovo’s government “during the Ohrid talks and the entire process leading up to them, as well as Serbia’s uncooperative stance.”
Kurti was praised for his patience and courage in the ongoing EU-facilitated dialogue by Parliament Speaker Lindita Nikolla and President Bajram Begaj in their respective meetings
The Albanian president’s office released a statement expressing the hope that the Ohrid meeting’s results would become a binding and applicable agreement for the parties internationally.
Earlier this month, the European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said an agreement was reached in Ohrid on implementing an EU-backed deal on normalizing relations between Serbia and Kosovo. However, Serbia’s president refused to sign the deal in writing, raising questions on the deal’s validity.
Mr. Borrell said implementing commitments from both sides is a precondition for their integration into the EU.
“What the parties have accepted: the agreement and its implementation through the annex will become an integral part of their respective European Union paths,” Mr. Borrell said. “The annex and the agreement are considered adopted through my statement that will be published [soon],” and not through a joint statement signed by all parties, as originally envisioned, Borrell said.
Mr. Borrell had noted that Kosovo had agreed to immediately begin to implement steps to enhance self-management of Serb majority municipalities in Kosovo.
The agreement envisages that Belgrade will not recognize Kosovo under international law, but will take note of its statehood and recognize Kosovo’s passports and custom documents.
TOP PHOTO: Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti (left) and Albania Speaker of Parliament Lindita Nikolla during their March 25 meeting. (Credit: Handout/GoK)
