Hashim Thaci serving Serbia, slandering Sali Berisha

In an interview for “Panorama”, Mustafaj recalls that the claim to correct the borders between Kosovo and Serbia has heard that 15 years ago, at the time he was foreign minister. But, according to Mustafaj, such claims have always come from top Belgrade officials and never from representatives of Albanian politics.

The former foreign minister emphasises that Thaci, following statements of restructuring of borders with Serbia, including on Kosovo territory, the Presevo Valley, faces a huge political and public pressure.

According to Mustafaj, there has been this very heavy psychological situation that has prompted Thaci to articulate, as has said, many lies in the direction of former Prime Minister Sali Berisha.

How do you assess Kosovo President Hashim Thaci's proposal for border correction between Serbia and Kosovo, and more specifically for the Presevo Valley?

It's a proposal I've been hearing for at least 15 years. But most specifically during the period 2005-2007, when I held the post of foreign minister, I was also officially told by very high representatives of the state and the Serbian government. At its core, this proposal has been reiterated insistently over the past year by Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic, and recently by Serbian President Aleksandar Vuciq. So it's not a new proposal and it's not an inborn proposal in the mind of President Thaci, and that makes the proposal even more disturbing. Because there is no way to believe a proposal that is in Kosovo's interest can come from Serbia. An idea aimed at Kosovo enlargement cannot come from Belgrade, while the opposite is likely to happen. On the other hand, there is a proposal that contains the courage of the factor because there are within the promises to promote other ideas in other Balkan states that have similar problems with each other.

Does the Kosovo president have to make a proposal for border correction?

This is a proposal that cannot be allowed. Such a proposal cannot come from a single man, even this president of the Republic of Kosovo. It cannot come from anyone because there is no constitutional mandate in Kosovo to talk about changing borders, giving or taking territories with another state. That of Thaci is an unconstitutional idea and is, more so, an unconstitutional behaviour by the president of Kosovo. The fact that this kind of proposal exists long as a final solution on the part of Serbia and now comes as an articulation by President Thaci shows that the head of Kosovo's state is articulating something that is in Serbia's interest.

According to you, after these Thaci statements, are there expected to be a reaction on Serbia's part to seek territory inhabited by the Serb population, such as Mitrovica?

This is the background, though clearly unverbalised by Foreign Minister Dacic or even Serbian President Vuciq. Their aim is to take the three significant majority municipalities of the Serb population in northern Kosovo. Of course, it would then lead to a reduction of Kosovo as territory, in a depletion of its underground resources, including water. In this way, it will be difficult, unless the functioning survival of the state of Kosovo is impossible. Belgrade's main goal in this case is to make Kosovo unstable and impossible to live in its sovereignty.

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci has articulated very strong accusations and a no diplomatic language towards former Prime Minister Berisha, following his stances against partitioning Kosovo. How did you comment Thaci's statements?

I have seen Kosovo President Hashim Thaci's reaction. I've noticed a very heavy psychological condition by Mr. Thaci. Evidently, he is not psychologically coping with the burden that comes to him from reactions and things of public opinion, political class, civil society, different Kosovo personalities regarding his proposal. Since he has reacted to a heavy mental state, he certainly articulates many not ethical things. The second, in Thaci's reaction, a large part of statements related to the period é92-97, when Berisha was president, are thoroughly slandered. In that period, Albania has been strictly monitored by representatives of the United Nations organisation, because it was directly linked to respecting the embargo imposed by the UN Security Council. Reports of that period exist. None of those reports point to embargo violations. This is a rumor and a recurring slander for many years in Albanian environments and is now absorbed for the first time by the president of Kosovo, as a way to get the negative attention he has on himself inside and outside Kosovo.