Berisha: I've always been against partitioning Kosovo

Albania's former prime minister, Sali Berisha, has commented on the idea of partitioning Kosovo or exchanging territories with Serbia within the framework of talks between the two states. Berisha has said any similar ideas are unacceptable and that these destabilizing efforts of Serbia must fail.

I have been and remain a staunch opponent of any idea of partitioning Kosovo. I'm against any discussion on such a matter, or the trade of territories. I think that recognising Serbia's right -- lost power from war -- to present territorial claims on Kosovo in a way is a reverse of the goal and the result of the liberation war of the people of Kosovo and Natos, as well as the surrender of Serbia in this war.

Serbia has no right to claim even a square metre of Kosovo territory. Kosovo owes Serbia no debt, no square meter of its territory. The opposite is true. The Republic of Kosovo has been declared and recognised as an independent state with its current international borders” has said Berisha.

The former leader of Albania's Democratic Party has said the Ahtisaari Document guarantees all rights to the Serb minority, so Serbia has no right to seek any trade, writes Indexline.

“Accept the idea of partitioning Kosovo in one way or another supports Belgrade's idea and bid for Greater Serbia at the expense of Kosovo. In our region, areas with three minority municipalities like Mitrovica are some and the opening of a precedent that Serbs in Mitrovica seek would undermine peace and stability throughout the region.

Serbian Minority in Kosovo, in line with the Ahtisaari Document, has been guaranteed rights that no minority has in Europe. So Serbia's claim to the three Mitrovica municipalities has nothing to do with guaranteeing Serb freedoms and rights, but it has only to continue the idea of Serbia and is the territorial claim against an independent sovereign state with the aim of resolution of Kosovo! There's no difference even in the case of “loss” of territories. The truth is, in this case Serbia seeks to trade, to use Albanian territory as a market robbery. She is concerned by the growing wake of national awareness to Albanian residents of the New Pazar.

For all of this, I am flatly opposed, and I have conviction that these destabilizing efforts of Serbia will fail.
Any agreement and any solution should be an agreement between the two independent countries that recognise and respect each other's territorial integrity. If Serbia does not accept this principle it does not seek agreement, but conflicts and destabilisation” have Berisha told Indexline.