Israeli Ambassador: Visa waiver for Kosovo important step for two countries' relations

According to her, travel without barriers will enable diplomatic, economic and cultural relations. Israel's ambassador to the Kosovo Press interview stresses that this is already the procedure of two foreign ministries, but that it expects the decision to come into effect very soon.

As for the situation after the outbreak of the war in Gaza, the Jewish diplomat stresses that Israel is in a difficult situation, which, according to her, is Hamas.

Israeli Ambassador to Kosovo Tamara Ziv says lifting visas for citizens from Kosovo is an important step for both countries. According to her, travel without barriers will enable diplomatic, economic and cultural relations. Israel's ambassador to the Kosovo Press interview stresses that this is already the procedure of two foreign ministries, but that it expects the decision to come into effect very soon. As for the situation after the outbreak of the war in Gaza, the Jewish diplomat stresses that Israel is in a difficult situation, which, according to her, is Hamas.

Israel removed visas for Kosovo, for which citizens are allowed free movement during travel to this state, and for that it says it is an important step for the relations of both countries.

I think the relationship between a country is based on the fact that people of each country meet with each other easily and as much as possible. So removing the need for visa and enabling Kosovo citizens to come and visit Israel easily is a very important step in relations that will enable more exchange among people, tourism, economic relations, cultural relations. Any kind of exchange between the peoples of Israel and Kosovo will now become very easy”, she declares for Kosovo Press.

As to when that decision will start, the Jewish diplomat expects that such a thing will happen in the coming months.

We are now entering the process, there is an agreement that must be signed among the countries. So this is a legal case between two foreign affairs ministries. They must finalise the text of the agreement and set the date on which it will enter into force. I believe it will happen in the coming months”, Ziv adds to KosovoPress.

On the three-year anniversary of diplomatic relations with Kosovo, Ambassador Ziv told reports with Kosovo and visits during this time. She said that during the three years since diplomatic relations between the two countries have been established, many visits to the two states, including the fields of economy, culture and art, have followed.

“Basically, I think we have a great relationship. We established diplomatic relations nearly three years ago. In February, we will celebrate the third anniversary of relations, and I am very happy that for this third anniversary we reached the agreement to give up the need for visas... We have had many high-level bilateral visits to Israel, Kosovo, of ministers of various fields. We had several economic delegations from Kosovo that visited Israel. We've had no small cultural exchange of artists from both sides that came, performed, had training in various fields. So I think for three years we have done really much, we have achieved a lot and we look forward to reaching a lot more”, the Israeli ambassador to Kosovo points out.

Speaking of the situation after the start of the war in Gaza, Israeli ambassador says Kosovo is supporting its country even in the difficult situation it is going through last year. Ziv said Israel's army has decided to counter the October 7th Hamas terrorist attack, where 1,200 people and over 5,000 others were killed.

The current situation is difficult. As you all know, on October 7th, Hamas terrorist organisation launched a terrible terrorist attack against Israel. One attack in which more than 1,200 people were killed one day, 5,000 people were injured, 240 people were kidnapped and taken hostage at the Gaza Strip, we are talking about babies from nine months to the elderly and Holocaust survivors who are 85, 86. On January 27 we recalled the International Holocaust Day and the fact that Holocaust survivors had to overcome this horror, and were kidnapped and taken hostage at the Gaza Strip, suffered and suffer, is terrible.

Thus, as a result, it is the war that Hamas proclaimed to Israel. The Israeli army has retaliated. It was the Israeli government's decision to work to dismantle Hamas' military capabilities and to free our hostages, in hopes of creating a situation in which all displaced Israeli citizens, who are more than 200,000 Israelis, who have been displaced from their homes as a result of this situation, both in the Gaza Belt and in the North, which borders Lebanon on Hizbullah, can be returned home and be sure”, she claims.

While hoping that calm will be restored, she blames Hamas for the war. Ziv said that by October 7th, there were close to 18 thousand Palestinian workers entering Israel daily who contributed to the Gaza Belt economy.

I think it's 100% clear that it's Hamas' responsibility. I have to say that before October 7th, Israel wrongly thought we could live in some kind of ceasefire situation with Hamas. We had 18,000 Palestinian workers entering Israel every day, which is an extraordinary contribution to the Gaza Belt economy. We were engaged in efforts to advance projects to improve the economy within the Gaza Strip for the well-being of people there. We were taking patients to receive medical treatment in Israel and we really made a mistake about their intentions, and we hope to create a kind of quiet side-by-side situation”, she further stresses.

Jewish diplomat in the Kosovo Press interview says Hamas has vowed to repeat October 7th, which adds that co-existence in peace is the best solution.

We would be happy to live in a situation in which the Gaza Belt is demilitarized and does not pose a threat to Israel because Hamas has vowed to repeat October 7th over and over again so that any ability to do so is impossible from our point of view. But assuming that Hamas is demilitarized and has a kind of civil management of Gaza's Belt by Palestinians seeking co-existence, along with the international community, I think it would be a good solution, because we would like to co-exist side by side in peace without being threatened by any of the other”, Ziv concludes.

The war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7, 2023, following the Hamas group's attacks, where about 1,000 and 300 people were killed while another 250 were taken hostage. While according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, the war in the Gaza Strip has killed over 26 thousand Palestinians. /kp/