2018 year of first tenth anniversary of Kosovo Republic citizenship

We are on the eve of the holiday of the end of the year, and we all welcome the moment to meet in our families with the best friends to raise a toast. I want you to fill your glasses, congratulating for more prosperity in the coming year. At this time of changing weather, when for a few moments we get a little rest, surrounded by our most loved ones and out of our minds, we all find ourselves at a time of reflection. So, I want to share with you a few moments of reflection for the year we're leaving behind and the new 2018 year.

Two events from 2017, one at the beginning and the other at the end, are a reflection of the wide range of events that have characterized the following year. In January, we faced an irritability and irrational provocation with the launch of the train with nationalist slogans from Belgrade to Kosovo, which did not reach the goal but served as a reminder of the fragility of peace and stability. While, at the end of the year, in the second part of December 2017, came the wonderful news of signing the agreement for one of the largest foreign direct investments in Kosovo and the region. The American company “Cautour Global” will invest with a total of 1.3 billion euros in the “New Kosovo thermal power plant project, and open 10,000 new jobs.

Between these two events, we've had a full year of various trials.

No description of the time in our close past would be even approximately accurate unless it is clearly stated that we have experienced some light moments on the political plain. In addition to the early local elections, we faced early general elections. I'm happy about the fact that this year we've had two choices, which have been well organised, free and democratic. But this does not deny the fact that again we have continued to internal divisions, escalation of rhetoric, which at least serves citizens and state interest. Some might say that these are <x0 concentrations of growth”, of our growth as a state and as a democratic society. But this growth should be followed with maturity. Kosovo does not have the luxury of spending energy and time in endless debates over the names of single names, personalities, parties, currents, different interest groups, etc. Kosovo does not lack problems and vital themes to lose another year for small internal battles. This year will be remembered more about how much we dealt with ourselves but not constructively. I do not rule out that this may also be influenced by external factors, but the outcome and responsibility remain with us.

We have an important year ahead of us. It is the year when we will mark the 10th anniversary of the independence of the Republic of Kosovo. A decade of citizenship must present an extraordinary opportunity. We should be focused on our common state interest and stick to our goal of consolidating the state and completing our common task of strengthening the state function, improving citizen living conditions, improving the position of our region and the world. I say it from my own life experience, based on my own political career filled with many confrontations and difficulties, that only vision, team work, self-confidence, preparation, morality, devotion, and loyalty to our ultimate goal brings us to a comfortable position.

There will be no more decent celebration of the first decade of citizenship that the end of internal uncertainties, the fulfillment of international obligations and the outcome of isolation, resulting in visa liberalisation. We need to finish the remaining job of completing the election reform process, advancing the Commission for Truth and Compliance, establishing the Kosovo Armed Forces, and completing the final phase of dialogue for normalising relations between Kosovo and Serbia, through mutual recognition and completing bilateral barriers to the EU and NATO membership process.

All these actions will result in an acceleration of further political and economic development and will affect the improvement of the standard of living of our citizens. As a result, ways will be opened for meeting European standards in all relevant areas, because our strategic goal is membership in the EU and NATO. EU standards, but also requirements of the NATO membership process, have been an organic part of each step in the statehood of our country.

The focus should be on our joint tasks related to political development, further consolidation of institutions, continued public administration reform, further reforms in the judiciary, and on strengthening the rule of law. Furthermore, reforms in economic governance and other structural reforms in line with EU economic criteria must be further moved, respectively, to ensure a free market economy that is able to cope with the competitiveness of the single EU market. We need to further work towards creating economic conditions to increase our products and exports, attract foreign investments and integrate Kosovo businesses into international markets. We have also had successes in this direction, and this is witnessed by the World Bank's Doing Business report, which recently emerged in which Kosovo marked a significant improvement in the ranking from 60th to 40th. Remember, though, we still have weaknesses to eliminate. We still have problems with informal economy and revenue collection that affect our public finances. The level of innovation and educational quality must be improved. It should not be forgotten that Kosovo still continues to have a high unemployment rate, which can be significantly softened if we seriously approach needed reforms together.

We often feel disappointed that the European integration process is no faster. Delays are creating space for other actors who try to violate our civilizing Western values. In this situation, we don't have any dilemmas or alternatives. The time of guesswork has ended. Everything is clear how this purpose will be achieved. Orders on this topic from Brussels and the capitals of all our state allies are clear and we must take our steps.

Therefore, I wish that we all together find energy to deal with all these important topics. From the last day of the year we leave behind, on the first day of the new year, we are the same people, with the same fate, with the same opportunities and challenges to ourselves. But the good news is that we ourselves are the ones who have the opportunity to change things for the better. So, I wish that each citizen, we together as a society, would work as hard as possible in the coming year, influence things positively on our own circle and our country.