Thaci French diplomat: I know you've been easy on me personally.

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci in Paris today has shared the Freedom Medal” with French diplomat Frédéric Baline du Laurens for his contribution to the state of Kosovo since the Rambouilles Conference.

At the decoration ceremony, President Thaci said that on our way to freedom and independence we have had substantial and powerful support from France, from the presidents and foreign ministers, and especially from its diplomats.

He also recalled the Kosovo negotiating team's trip 19 years ago, with a French military plane to Paris.

Thaci: We've known each other for over 19 years.

Dear Frédéric, we are both known for over 19 years, since the time of Rambouillet. Then you were a mature man and a very experienced diplomat, I was a young man who was undergoing the greatest test in political times. Today I am the age you had then, and I can say my friend, that experience is a strict teacher, because it forces us to pass the exam before he explains our lesson. We taught each other to know each other and to trust each other. For me you were and are a dignified representative of a great state, friend of freedom and peace”, the president said.

He also stressed that it is no coincidence that peace conferences are held in Paris, such as the 1919 Peace Conference and the 1999 Rambouillet Conference, which marked the epilog and peace prologue on our continent in the past century.

Thaci: Peace is a very big project to fail

“Peace is a very big project to fail. Therefore, Kosovo is engaged today in talks in Brussels, with its neighbouring state, Serbia, under the auspices of the European Union, to cement peace”, the president stressed and sought to work jointly for a quick and final solution to bring peace and stability to the Balkans.

Thaci: I know it wasn't easy with us.

Dear Frédéric, your vision of world history, is complete and far-reaching. I thank you very much in my name, of the people of Kosovo, for your very precious contribution. I know you didn't have it easy on us, because you had to find compromises on different sides, but with your patience, with your vision and others, you did. You've had it easy on me personally in Rambouille, because you knew, I tried to achieve full independence in Rambouillet, while in reality it was your opportunity to offer Kosovo only substantial autonomy”, Thaci said.

President Thaci is standing on Paris, marking 100th anniversary of the end of World War I