Kurti: I would not go to Brussels for license plates, but for a comprehensive agreement

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said in an interview with the German newspaper "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" that he would not go to Brussels to negotiate on the issue of the license plates, but for the sake of a comprehensive agreement, Reporteri reports.

He pointed out that he was not stubborn but principled.

"There are principles and values that I adhere to. We are not going to Brussels to negotiate about police officers, prosecutors, customs officers and heads of land registry services. We are there as representatives of two countries negotiating the normalization of relations. It is a dialogue for an agreement in principle, and not only a dialogue on crisis management. We don't need dialogue for the sake of dialogue or to show that Brussels is active. I wouldn't go to Brussels if it was only about license plates. I will go to Brussels to conclude a comprehensive agreement. However, Mr Borrell insisted on signing only the license plate statement and claimed it as a big success. This was the main misunderstanding I had with him," Kurti said.

Kurti also stated that the agreement on the license plates was reached not only to de-escalate the tense situation between Kosovo and Serbia, but also to start negotiations for a final agreement.

He said that the agreement must be reached before the spring of 2023.

"We did this not only to de-escalate, but also to create an opportunity for a quick start of negotiations for the complete normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia. They must be completed before the spring of 2023. That was the real goal of the compromise," Kurti said.