Pacolli, Daciq replicate for Kosovo in Bosnia

The joint meeting of the Western Balkan foreign ministers with senior European Commission and Great Britain leaders has started in Sarajevo, under the Berlin Process and Trieste Initiative, two driving instruments of bringing these countries closer to the European Union.

The meeting was opened by nicotine, Bosnia and Herzegovina Foreign Minister Igor Crnadak, who then gave the word to Bulgaria's Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva on behalf of Bulgaria, the country leading the European Union.

According to an MPB communique, Enlargement Director Cristian Danielson, on behalf of Commissioner Hahn, illustrated the expectations of the European Union from Balkan countries in reforms and in regional co-operation.

“Balkan has become the number one priority for Moghrin and Hahn Commissioners and the entire European Union, and you must capture the golden moment”, addressed the Director for the Balkans and Turkey in the Commission, Angelica Eichhorst, the Balkan ministers.

Albania's Foreign Minister, Ditmir Bushati, called for more realism from the European Union, urging more clarity on deadlines, instruments, tools, at the disposal of the Balkan countries' expansion.

At the beginning of his speech, Foreign Minister and Kosovo government number two -- Behgjet Pacolli -- had several words of remorse for Bosnia's efforts to exclude Kosovo from this activity.

Responding to Serbia's foreign minister, Ivica Dacic, who questioned Kosovo's participation in Sofia at the next meeting organised by Bulgaria, Pacolli said Kosovo's citizenship is something done.

“We will be together in Sofia, like all other Balkan states and the European Union”, he said.

Later, Minister Pacolli spoke of the implications of the European Union's Enlargement Strategy in the Kosovo government's activities, within the country and in relations with the region and the EU.

Minister Pacolli underlined the fact that the Strategy confirmed secure membership in Kosovo's near future as an independent and sovereign state, something that already became clear to Serbia.

“We remain strongly engaged in the process of European integration, implementation of the Stabilisation Association Agreement, as well as in the EU-launched Dialogue of normalising relations with Serbia, which must end with a legally binding agreement for both sides. We are increasing co-operation with all neighbours, even with Greece supporting our European integration”, he followed.

Referring to the Berlin Process, the European Union's initiative to promote economic, infrastructure co-operation, etc. among the Balkan countries, the chief of Kosovo diplomacy proposed creating a Free Cross-border Economic Zone between northern Kosovo and South Serbia, as an asymmetric action that would bring economic development, normalise interethnic relations and demonstrate the importance of borders.

As for the Common Economic Zone in the region, Pacolli said he understood the European Union's approach that viewed this area as the precognition of integration.

“How can we force Bosnia and Serbia to remove obstacles to the free movement of people, goods, and capitals in all this space? How do we force Serbia to unblock the functioning of the Interconction line between Albania and Kosovo, which it does to preserve the monopoly in distribution of energy in the region? How do we overcome the inequalities created by the geographical position, offset those countries that have no borders with the EU? We also need an arbitration instance for the disputes between us, not just on bilateral or regional basis”, he clarified Kosovo's position.

Pacolli requested visa liberalisation with the EU, because Kosovo cannot become Europe's black hole.

In the end, Pacolli addressed his Bosnian counterpart with a joke: “must soon close the speech because my stay in Bosnia is only in two days according to the visa he gave me”.

Foreign Minister Pacolli called for it to facilitate contacts between the Bosnian citizens of Kosovo or Kosovars in general and Bosnia, in line with the spirit of regional co-operation.