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For DW he talks about the Berlin Process, dialogue and relations with Serbia.
Deutsche Welle: Mr. Prime Minister, you came to Berlin at the invitation of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, because Germany has decided to give an impetus to the process of integration of the Western Balkans into the European Union, given the dynamics currently created by the Ukraine War. The Berlin Process is a process started by Chancellor Angela Merkel, but which has not had many concrete results. Do you think this is the right way to offer the Western Balkans towards the European Union?
Albin Kurti: I was honored to attend a meeting with Chancellor Scholz at his invitation here at the chancellery, where we first met. It was a pleasure to confirm that we share common values. The European Union and NATO have Germany as a strategic ally for the Republic of Kosovo and we are convinced that the Berlin Process with its re-energization through the new Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, is good news for each Balkan country and in particular for Republic of Kosovo. We have somewhere every third citizen of the Republic who does not reside in the territory of the Republic, but in Western Europe, especially in Germany. Our agreements will increase, our economic and trade cooperation as well, and I believe that both in the European Union and in the Berlin Process, good days await us as the Republic of Kosovo.
One of the elements of the Berlin Process is the Common Regional Market, to which the leaders of the Western Balkans have pledged, but so far has not been implemented. What needs to happen for the Western Balkans to cooperate better?
The Common Regional Market is at the heart of the Berlin Process. Not a replacement for the EU, but in preparation for it. In order to achieve the Common Regional Market, Serbia must accept the documents of Kosovo and in this way enable the quadruple movement that represents the value of the European Union. I believe that it is the last time for Belgrade to be pressured to accept the documents of Kosovo and in this way the capital, services and people to circulate freely and to move closer to the European Union together.
You request that the documents have within the term “Republic of Kosovo”. Are you not ready to make a small release there, even to boost cooperation?
We can not go back either before 1999, when we were liberated, or before 2008, when we declared independence, or before 2010, when the International Court of Justice legitimized the Declaration of Independence, or before 2012, when international oversight ended. of Kosovo’s Independence. The documents belong to the Republic and they must be accepted as such, but let us not forget that Slovakia, Greece and Romania do not recognize our country yet – I hope this will change soon – but they also have their office in Pristina and they accept them. that all documents. My passport is accepted by Greece, Romania and Slovakia, and if Serbia wants to join the European Union, at least, as a first step let it join non-recognizing countries that are known to be a minority.
Thus, we entered the dialogue for the normalization of relations with Serbia. Mr. Scholz invited you to have a conversation in the presence of President Vucic and negotiator Lajcak. What can come out of this meeting?
My presence and participation in the meeting and activities here in Berlin, of course, were not only for the meeting with Chancellor Olaf Scholz, but also with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Annalena Baerbock, but also another trilateral meeting with the President of Serbia and the EU mediator. , Mr. Lajçak. I believe that dialogue should be principled, balanced, symmetrical, with results that prove to be such as to bring benefits to citizens without distinction, but also results, which have within the values of the EU. Democratization, rule of law, fighting corruption, dealing with the past, reciprocity, and so on.
Do you see an obstacle for you, who see yourself as the modern and democratic leader of Kosovo, to find a common language with the current President of Serbia, Vuçiç?
It is not easy, because unlike Serbia, Kosovo is a democratic country. There is quality democracy. In our country, the opposition can win the elections. And we have the largest economic growth in the region. Kosovo is proof that economic development and institutional and social democracy go hand in hand. I wish that the approach in Serbia changes, not to be aligned as before with the official Kremlin, which made unjustifiable military aggression and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, and I wish that Serbia also imposes sanctions on Russia and distances itself from it. now from Putin and for her past to distance herself from Milosevic.
On the other hand, Serbia is a powerful country that also has the raw materials that the West or the European Union needs. So Serbia can claim its share. Are you ready to accept the Association of Serbian Municipalities, as foreseen in 2013?
Principled dialogue should lead to a legally binding agreement for the full normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia, which focuses on mutual recognition. Not mutual recognition at the end of a process that is long, as it was in the last decade, but mutual recognition at the center of the agreement, which normalizes relations, when Kosovo is a normal state, but relations with Serbia are not normal and they we need to normalize them. I do not believe that the European Union needs Serbia as much as Serbia needs the European Union. So, all the countries of the Western Balkans, taken together, have the population as large as the Netherlands, while combined gross domestic product has as large as Slovakia. But the Western Balkans, joining the European Union, reduces by three thousand kilometers the external border, which is good for security, but which also unites families, since there are no families, not only in Kosovo, but, I would say in the Balkans, which does not have a member at least in Western Europe.
The Balkans continue to be provoked by Russia. You talked about hybrid warfare. Do you see any danger that this hybrid war will turn into a real war in the Balkans as well?
It was proved that hybrid warfare does not replace war, but prepares it, and, on the other hand, it was also proved that autocratic countries, when buying armaments, do not do so for ceremonial military parades, but do so precisely, to use it. armament in the aggressive war against the neighbors. Therefore, we are very careful, and very vigilant, we are following what is happening there, close to three percent of the gross domestic product is made for investments and expenditures for the army, in which case they buy weapons, or receive donations from Russia, Belarus and China. , and around the border of Kosovo with Serbia, there are already 48 military bases, which endanger security and peace in our country, But with our state capabilities, with the fact that although we are not in NATO we have NATO in Kosovo, and although we are not in the European Union and we have the European Union integrated in Kosovo, we are still safe.
But in our northern neighbor, Serbia, it is known that Gazprom has a majority stake in the oil industry. Nis is the Russian humanitarian center, and they have trade agreements with the Russian Federation and are part of the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union. So, the ties are multiple, they are deep, and I think that the European Union and NATO should be careful not to allow Serbia to sit in three or four chairs anymore. At the same time, they should appreciate the contribution of Kosovo, which has no other alternative and will not have any parallel projects other than the EU and NATO./DW
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