Rama: A successful completion of normalization between Kosovo and Serbia is necessary for a stable future of Albanian-Serbian relations

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, on the eve of tomorrow's new round of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina in Brussels, said that he prayed that it would not be another empty circle and a repetition of the song "the fault is someone else's". He also stated that the successful completion of the normalization process between Kosovo and Serbia was necessary for a stable future of Albanian-Serbian relations.

Rama stated on Facebook that Albania would be fully in line with the efforts of the United States of America and the European Union regarding the implementation of the plan for the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia.

"Despite our close ties and perhaps the unique relationship in the world with Kosovo, as another Albanian state on the border with Albania, we were, are, and will be fully aligned along the lines of the efforts of the US and the European Union regarding the implementation of the plan for the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia. Not because our big strategic partners are always, necessarily, right, but because until today they have never been wrong in their requests to both countries and recently to Kosovo in particular," Rama said.

He recalled that in June, due to the height of tensions in the municipalities in the north of Kosovo, Albania had unilaterally canceled the long-planned joint session of the governments of Kosovo and Albania.

"If we could go back a hundred times, we would cancel it a hundred times, because Albania is a responsible member of the Euro-Atlantic community," Rama said.

As he added, it had been the worst moment for such a meeting and Kosovo had then been, as he assessed, on the side of the past, instead of on the side of the future, side by side with its strategic allies.

"At that time, aware that it was an unusual move, I presented to our strategic allies Albania's contribution to the ongoing talks on the creation of the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities, because I completely agree with them on the need to strictly implement everything that the state of Kosovo has committed to. The governments come and go, but the serious countries stick to their international obligations regardless of the government changes," Rama said.

He pointed out that all this did not mean that Albania saw Kosovo as the only one responsible for bringing the dialogue to a dead end and that Kosovo had taken a significant step in the long-awaited direction, accepting the Franco-German plan without reference to mutual recognition and accepting the proposal of self-governance of the Serbian community.

"I immediately publicly, not only personally, applauded Albin Kurti for this step. Now is the time for Serbia to get out of the absurd trench of denying reality and act in good faith, enabling a series of implementations that meet the needs of both sides within the Franco-German plan," Rama says.

The Albanian Prime Minister also points out that Albania extended the hand of friendship to Serbia.

"Ironically, it happened that we are the only country in the region that openly declared against the sanctions against Serbia and we clearly explained why we are convinced of this position. However, it should also be emphasized that for a stable future of Albanian-Serbian relations, a successful completion of the normalization process between Kosovo and Serbia, is necessary," Rama says.

He points out that while he is unsuccessfully trying to understand the tactics of the Kosovo Government, he is equally unsuccessful in his attempts to understand Serbia's dialogue strategy.

"I assume that Belgrade's strategy is to delay the process and to benefit as much as possible from Pristina's self-destructive tactics, which continuously helped victimize Serbia in the international arena. Unfortunately, some forget that we are no longer in the 90s of the last century. Albania is for peace, reconciliation, and a common future. But still, if things go wrong, Albania and the Albanians are with Kosovo," Rama said.

He added that he sincerely hoped that everyone involved in the normalization process was aware of what was happening today between Kosovo and Serbia and that they understood that any other alternative, except for the immediate, comprehensive implementation of the agreement on the Franco-German plan, was playing with fire.

"Whoever plays in it will be the first to burn, and even worse, in the end, the entire region will be burned, and it will not be avoided that even Europe itself will be burned. The successful completion of the process of normalization of Kosovo and Serbia is essential for regional peace and security, as well as for the security of Europe itself," Rama said.

Rama also referred to the fact that Albania was presiding over the Security Council, at the same time when the whole world would gather at the United Nations Assembly in New York, stating that this was a historic moment in Albania's international relations, which, he said, spoke volumes about the rise of Albania to a new level.