Albanian prime minister wants to erase border with Kosovo
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said he views the Balkan mini-Schengen as an opportunity to erase the border between Albania and Kosovo.
This was reported by Reporteri, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
In a conversation with the Pristina media, Rama recalled that the idea of a Balkan Schengen was first put forward by the former Prime Minister of Albania Fatos Nano. He was the first to promote it among the leaders of the Balkan countries.
“The first regional Schengen was formulated by Fatos Nano at a time when it seemed crazy,” Rama said. – I reintroduced it because the conditions for this appeared. Regional Schengen means the erasure of the border between Albania and Kosovo, but by the time the people of Kosovo understand this, years will have passed and Kosovo will have lost time. Mini-Schengen is an idea that I was the first to implement, and there are witnesses to this.”
Speaking about the dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade, Rama stated that for him “the future of Kosovo without a determination to end the dialogue is unclear, not in terms of independence, but in terms of the opportunities that may be available to raise the status of Kosovo to a higher level economically and social aspects." This is how Rama responded to the statements of the “prime minister” of Kosovo that dialogue with Belgrade is not a priority for him.
Let us recall that the “Balkan mini-Schengen” project, signed by Albania, Serbia and North Macedonia and sharply received with hostility by Kosovo due to its reluctance to integrate with Serbia in any form, was promoted by the Republican administration of US President Donald Trump. It implies the free movement of people, goods and finance across the borders of the countries of the Western Balkans, mutual recognition of documents and diplomas, and employment without restrictions.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.