K. Albanians optimistic about Greek recognition

VIENNA -- The Kosovo Albanian government in Priština foreign minister says that Greece is "moving toward recognizing Kosovo's independence". Skender Hyseni (FoNet, file) Skender Hyseni was also quoted as saying that after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling in the Kosovo case, "a series of countries who have not done so will recognize Kosovo as an independent state". The ICJ is deliberating the legality under international law of the Kosovo Albanian unilateral declaration made two years ago. Belgrade has rejected the proclamation as an illegal act of secession, while Greece is one of five EU members that have not recognized it. Now Hyseni told Vienna's Der Standard newspaper that authorities in Belgrade have been "destabilizing the region", and that "Kosovo's independence cannot be annulled by any kind of negotiations". He went on to warn the five EU countries that have not recognized Kosovo – Greece, Spain, Cyprus, Slovakia, and Romania – that "they can expect friendly pressure to do so" from other member-states, and singled out Greece as "particularly moving in that direction", As for Serbia, Hyseni objected to its moves by saying it was "wasting its own and Kosovo's time and opening up space for all kinds of insane scenarios in the region". "Anyone seeking new negotiations at a time when Kosovo has built state institutions and after it was recognized by 65 countries shows that they are either ignoring the facts, or it's something worse – they are the ones trying to destabilize the region," said this ethnic Albanian politician. According to him, Serbia "cannot on the one hand seek EU membership, and on the other be a destabilizing factor in the Balkans". "Serbia is behaving in a very European manner in Brussels, but in the Balkans it is acting not at all in a European way," said Hyseni. He also announced that Priština would "try to win over those countries that have not recognized Kosovo to enable it to sign the SAA", and boasted the territory's progress when it comes to legislature and reforms, "which are not much different that in Serbia". For all these reasons, Hyseni concluded, he expected "Kosovo to join the EU before 2020"