Kurti from Washington: We want normalisation of relations with Serbia, hope to hold in late August

Kurti has said relations with Serbia are normal, but wants their normalisation, Periscopi conveys.

“We have never denied the importance of the talks, but we said they should be principled talks with which Kosovo is a party and not a topic as it has been in the past. For the US, as well as for the Government of Kosovo, Kosovo is an independent, sovereign, democratic state with clear territorial integrity, but at the same time we acknowledge that our relations with Serbia are not normal. We want good neighbourly relations, therefore we want normalisation of these relations. And the normalisation of these relations is done with dialogue, which should have the goal of a legally binding agreement focused on mutual recognition. Here we have full agreement with Secretary Blinken, who is an ally, a partner and a great friend of Kosovo. ”

On the other hand, Prime Minister Kurti has blamed Belgrade for failing to hold the meeting, just as Brussels is demanding, indicating later on when the next meeting might occur.

“I am always willing to travel to Brussels for the next meeting, well prepared for bilateral issues. And such a meeting has been scheduled to be held on July 19th, but was not held because of official Belgrade and refused it and demanded a postponement over a month. They used to say that we should expect that they have not held the elections, and now, although it is about four months since they have held the elections, they again cause unintentional delays, which concern the fact that despite US and EU demands, they do not want to distance themselves from despotic President Putin from the official Kremlin and the war that caused him against Ukraine.
In this case I stress that Kosovo has always been with every official of its own, during the Brussels process, constructive, creative and dedicated. Secretary Blinken demanded that we continue to be more so, we will continue to be more so, but it is Belgrade who is working against good neighbourly agreements and relations, while we are constructive and Brussels has recorded this. Instead of meeting in July, it is now hoped that Kurti would probably be held at the end of August”, he concluded. /Periscopi/