Hoti: Despite recent developments, dialogue is alternative, we are preparing for the Paris Summit.

 

Hoti's statement below:

We have invited you to present to you some issues concerning a very important visit to the government and the state of Kosovo. As you have seen from yesterday's agenda, we have had higher EU meetings starting with the president of the Council, the EC chief, the chairman of the Commission for Foreign Policy, the Chief of Enlargement.

The topics we have discussed at these meetings are of vital interest to Kosovo starting with visas, and I say there is consensus from the EU on the free movement of Kosovars, and everyone acknowledges that Kosovo has met the conditions for visa liberalisation and it is our duty to keep those criteria. I expect that some of the member states that have been skeptical with the dedication shown by the new government for implementing the SAA agenda will be moving soon without visas.

A group of European Parliament deputies have written to Merkel, and Germany soon takes the lead in the European Parliament and I believe there is a reconciliation of all EC members for visa liberalisation.

The second issue is fighting pandemic, I have thanked the EU commission and institutions for the assistance provided. We now seem to have to prepare for the second wave of pandemic and work closely with the MSH and other institutions so that we can stabilise all institutions as soon as possible and get used to living with the pandemic.

The third issue discussed in detail is economic recovery and the support the Western Balkans and Kosovo need to overcome the situation created after the pandemic. I have announced our plan for economic recovery and have requested that the Balkans and Kosovo be treated with assistance. We agreed to look at the reform of the European agenda within the SAA.

Political and recent developments in particular have changed the dynamics of our agenda as a government, now after the announcement of the indictment delivered by the Specialised Prosecutor's Office and I want to say three things.

The liberation war of the people of Kosovo is the greatest achievement for the struggle for independence, this war has achieved freedom and independence, and actually declaring independence legitimises the KLA war.

We must all agree on the principle of justice that is the presumption of innocence until there is no final decision

We are convinced that all institutions will show discretion in this new situation shown to fully respect our constitutional and legal obligations.

And the last issue is the process of dialogue, and despite recent political changes we as committed and clear confidence in the position that dialogue has no alternative, and yesterday I have said that before EU officials. It is of interest for the state of Kosovo to complete this process, as there is interest in key EU and US countries.

Because of recent developments we postponed our meeting in Washington and I've had intense discussions with Grenelli and agreed with him on the new date that will happen soon and you'll be notified. The agenda of that meeting remains the same again, to promote dialogue with an economic drive.

The final arrangements for the Paris Summit are now under way, and as a government, we are willing to be part of that summit, which is chaired by the two main EU states, and we are honoured with the great commitment of Macron and Merkel. We will work hard in the government to function the team for dialogue through dialogue experts who will take care of it to compile all the topics in our interest in this dialogue.