Hoti at EPP: Agreement with Serbia must enable Kosovo to join UN, EU, NATO

During this conference, on the panel under the “Ration of cross-border co-operation and handling security issues”, GP LDK chairman Hoti expressed the parliamentary and LDK group's position as the EPP member party.

At short points, he announced those present for the opposition LDK role since June 2017, but currently the largest party in the country. Also, Hoti said that being a member of the EPP is a responsibility that citizens who always ask us to take steps to promote our common values, principles and policies as members of the EPP”, the LDK communiqué says.

As for political developments in Kosovo, Hoti said that Kosovo's “government because of the weak coalition has lost most in the Parliament, and for that reason has also lost legitimacy to represent the people of Kosovo”.

According to him, this institutional and political crisis has deepened especially since April 2018, when one of the coalition parties, representing the Serb community, öngriu its position within the Government.

“However, according to the Kosovo Constitution, representatives of the Serb community have their guaranteed seats and, as a result of this crisis, issues that are of national interest, which need a broad consensus, cannot be addressed”, the potential Hoti. He stressed that to get out of this situation, new elections are necessary and inevitable and that the LDK is aware of the responsibility they have to overcome this institutional crisis.

In order to overcome the crisis, Chairman Hoti cited several key principles that the LDK has established. According to him, it is in the best interest of all Kosovo citizens to reach a consensus agreement on these issues: national interest topics and those related to the European agenda, the principles to be followed during handling these topics, regardless of who is in power, as well as the preparations necessary for new and free elections, in order to create a government with a stable majority.

He added that, even though the LDK has organised a series of roundtables with political parties, and even though all sides have responded to this LDK initiative, a consensus has not been reached. Hoti reiterated the LDK's constructive role, “, which is trying not to lose focus on issues of national interest by supporting Kosovo's European agenda, voting the border agreement with Montenegro, supporting reforms in justice and fighting corruption”.

During his speech at this conference, Hoti also spoke about dialogue with Serbia, stating that we all agree that security, stability and development in the region depend on normalising relations with the countries of the region, especially with Serbia. He stressed once again that “The LDK fully supports dialogue with Serbia, even though it is a very complex process and that most agreements reached so far have not been implemented”.

Any idea of territorial exchange or border correction will find no support and should therefore not be part of the dialogue. All parties in Kosovo, including coalition parties, oppose that idea”, Hoti said. He added that the LDK strongly believes that drawing borders based on ethnic grounds is completely wrong and would have consequences beyond the Balkans.

According to Hoti, the LDK considers this process should be based on principles and clear frameworks such as: the principle of good neighbourly relations between Kosovo and Serbia should be a precondition for our joint Euro-Atlantic integration. Also, Hoti said, the LDK praises the European Union's role in this process and US support. He added that the EPP could play a key role in this direction.

Hoti pointed out that the <x0) final agreement between Kosovo and Serbia should ensure the full normalisation of relations between the two states, which can only be reached with mutual recognition, this agreement should enable Kosovo's membership in the UN, the EU and NATO, both countries must engage to implement existing agreements, as well as ideas involving change of territory and border corrections are dangerous for peace in the region and more broadly, and should not be taken into account because such ideas have previously caused conflicts in the region with tragic consequences of<1>

In the LDK's view, Hoti said the party he represents considers dialogue should be guided by institutions that have constitutional competencies and political legitimacy, with the involvement of civil society, relevant scientific, cultural, religious and economic institutions, while the current government in Kosovo does not have the necessary political power and legitimacy of citizens to represent Kosovo in this process. “When, the president acts outside his constitutional responsibilities and without any mandate from the Parliament. The LDK is ready to become part of the dialogue and lead this process together with other political forces in Kosovo, but first we must receive the mandate from citizens through free elections”, he added.

While, in terms of the visa liberalisation issue, Hoti informed that our “nation has fulfilled all its criteria and obligations, and for this reason, for the sake of its citizens, visas must be liberalised because there is no danger that our citizens emigrate to the EU in an uncontrolled way of”.

At the end of the word, GP LDK chairman Avdullah Hoti thanked The EPP in the European Parliament seeking their support on this issue.