Kosovo's President Hashim Thaçi has said he hopes 2018 will be a year of a "final historic agreement" with Serbia, at a time when, on 17 February, his country is to celebrate ten years of independence – which is not recognised by Belgrade.
"This is a crucial year. It must be decisive, otherwise we will drag on for decades", he said in an interview with French news agency AFP published on 1 February. In Thaçi's view, "the dialogue is the only path possible for Kosovo and Serbia to be able to move ahead". The two countries have been in dialogue on the normalisation of their relations since 2011 but this has now been going around in circles for nearly two years.
For Thaçi, "only one way (...) only one vision" is possible for his country: "becoming a member of the EU and NATO". "The EU is late with Kosovo and the Western Balkans", he said.
And while Kosovo is the last country in the Balkans not to benefit from visa liberalisation, Thaçi recognised that his country should "do its share" of the work. "Otherwise, it will be our fault", he acknowledged. The EU is still waiting for ratification of the agreement with Montenegro concerning the modification to the border, but it is also waiting for a good result in terms of the fight against organised crime and corruption. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)