Albanian PM warns his country and Kosovo "will unify"

Source: Beta, Tanjug

PRISTINA -- Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has warned that his country and Kosovo "will unify the classic way" unless the EU "opens up roads for Kosovo' integration."

(Beta, file)

During a joint interview he and Kosovo Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Hashim Thaci gave to the Pristina-based TV Klan, Rama said there were "two alternatives" for a future unification of Albania and Kosovo, and that it was "all up to the EU."
He explained that the first "alternative" was unification within the EU - but warned that "if the EU continues to close the door to Kosovo's integration," then "the two countries" will be forced to unite "the classic way."

Rama added that "the two countries" were in favor of unification through membership in the EU.

Thaci then explained that Rama's statement did not represent "a threat to the EU," but "the reality that can come true in the future and could be the result of Kosovo's isolation from the EU."

Rama reiterated that it was "a disgrace" that the EU was not finalizing the process of visa liberalization for citizens in Kosovo, who he said are "the only ones in the region who do not enjoy this."

Thaci said that Kosovo "already achieved all obligations it had related to the visa liberalization."

Reacting to Rama's statement, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksanadar Vucic stated on Tuesday that Kosovo and Albania "will not unify the classic way."

"I promise Prime Minister Rama that Kosovo and Albania will never unify in, as he said, the classic way! I plead with Albanian leaders to stop provoking instability in the region!," Vucic posted on his Twitter account.

Ethnic Albanians in early 2008 unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo, Serbia's southern province. Serbia rejected the proclamation as a violation of its Constitution and territorial integrity.