Kosovo’s Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti told MEPs on the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs on Thursday 10 September that the US-led and EU-facilitated dialogues with Serbia were complementary.
The Prime Minister said he was in favour of the United States being very involved, starting with economic normalisation, which, according to the Prime Minister, “will lead to all the normalisations”. The agreement signed on 4 September in Washington by the Kosovan and Serbian leaders focuses mainly on economic and infrastructure issues, but also contains political elements (see EUROPE 12554/14).
Mr Hoti said it was “comforting” to see the United States and the EU working in “absolute coordination” on the issue of Kosovo/Serbia relations.
The Prime Minister promised that he would take advantage of the favourable climate created by the US agreement “to achieve full normalisation of relations” with Serbia, with whom the agreement will be economic and political. Furthermore, for Mr Hoti, full normalisation of relations with Belgrade will require mutual recognition. “Everyone has understood this”, he added, explaining that “in his view, there was no other solution” and that it was the only solution to calm the situation on the ground and block foreign influences.
Believing that there was “not a single country in the region (of the Western Balkans) as committed as we are to the European path”, Mr Hoti called for visa liberalisation for Kosovans. “This is the most important issue on the road to European integration,” he explained, adding that the number of illegitimate asylum applications from Kosovans in the EU had decreased by 50% in two years. The Prime Minister hoped that his country could be a candidate for EU membership “in a few years”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)