Rama continues with "inevitable unification" statements

Source: Tanjug

TIRANA -- Albania and Kosovo will unify, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has repeated in an interview for Sky News Arabia.

On Friday, Rama stated that he "already said" this unification was something Albania considers as inevitable and unquestionable, adding that he "believes it will happen on the path toward Europe."
But, he added, "it is possible this may happen in another way" in case Europe "does not interfere with the strategic calculations of Balkan countries and a change of the appearance of the Balkans."

Earlier this month, Rama and Kosovo's Foreign Minister Hashim Thaci gave a joint interview to a Pristina-based broadcaster when the Albanian prime minister said there are two alternatives for "the unification of Kosovo and Albania", and that everything depended on the EU's approach.

The first option was the unification within the EU - however, if the EU closes the door to Kosovo's EU integration and visa liberalization then, as Rama put it, "the two states will be forced to unite in the classic way".

Kosovo is Serbia's southern province where ethnic Albanians in 2008 unilaterally declared independence - a proclamation Belgrade said violated the country's Constitution and territorial integrity. Reacting to Rama's previous statement about a unification of his country and Kosovo, Serbian officials condemned it in the strongest terms.

The Foreign Ministry handed a note of protest to Albania's ambassador in Belgrade, while Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said Rama and Thaci would not achieve "their dream" regadless of "who supports them in that business."

Thaci then said, during his trip to Croatia, that Rama's statement had been "misinterpreted" and did not represent a threat directed at the EU, as it "at no point concerned the possibility of a national unification or a change of borders."