Albania wants Kosovo to solve border dispute with Montenegro

ilir meta, kadri veseli, tirana, albania, parliament, kosovo
Albania & Kosovo Speakers during a press conference in Tirana

Tirana, Albania | Tirana Echo – Albania wants the quick approval of the ‘demarcation’ border agreement between Kosovo and Montenegro according to Albania’s Speaker of Parliament Ilir Meta, who met earlier with his Kosovan counterpart Kadri Veseli in Tirana.

I want to emphasize our full support for the implementation of the demarcation agreement as soon as possible between the Kosovo and Montenegro. This is crucial and decisive not only for the visa liberalization for all citizens of Kosovo, but also to end the current status quo in the European integration of Kosovo, while it would help with Montenegro’s membership into NATO” – said Meta during a press conference at the Albanian Parliament with Veseli.

Meta, a former prime minister of Albania and chair of the junior coalition partner LSI known for his focus on regional affairs said that he had told Kosovo Speaker Veseli that the Albanian Parliament will increase its cooperation to help with Kosovo’s integration and the increase of its international recognitions.

Meta added that Albania praises the wise reaction of Kosovo’s leaders in not falling prey to provocations such as the wall of Mitrovica and the train incident were Serbia attempted to send a train from Belgrade into northern Kosovo with ‘Kosovo is Serbia’ slogans written on it., noting that the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia is vital for the stability and security in the Balkans.

Both Speakers agreed that the arrest in France of former PM and commander of KLA Ramush Haradinaj did not make any sense and that he should be allowed to return to Kosovo without any delays.

Kosovo celebrated its 9th anniversary of independence last week counting 113 international recognitions, hoping to become a member of the UN after getting into the IMF and FIFA.

The country suffers from widespread corruption and unemployment and hopes to get a visa-free regime, eventually integrating into the European Union and NATO while Serbia, backed by Russia strongly opposes Kosovo’s international recognitions.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on February 17th 2008, marking the de-facto historical end of what was left of the old Yugoslavia. Today the Republic of Kosovo is recognized by 113 UN states and 23 out of 28 EU member states. The new Balkan country would need 130 international recognitions in order to apply for UN membership. It has already been accepted into the IMF, the World Bank and FIFA / UEFA.

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