During the discussion today at the Peace Forum in Paris, Rama was asked how Albania could contribute to the construction of a long-term peace in the region, especially in conditions of tensions between Serbia and Kosovo.
I can proudly say that Albania has always been a peace – loving country, and over the past 10 years we have tried to be very active in promoting peace and co-operation with all in the region, Rama said.
Referring to relations with neighboring countries, the prime minister stressed the importance of good cooperation and neighborliness, bringing an expression of his grandmother.
There are some things you can be as free as you want, but you can’t choose. And what’s harder I can’t choose neighbors’ cousins. I can’t choose cousins or neighbors. It’s fate. Neighbors are where they are. They’ll always be there. They’re not going anywhere. So you better try to get along with your neighbor because otherwise you find trouble. My grandmother used to say: Happy neighbor makes a happy home, the opposite is very challenging, he said.
Rama praised that Albania has tried everything it could to promote regional co-operation, while stressing that the situation between Kosovo and Serbia remains a question.
We’ve tried everything we could to some degree of success. But as far as the issue is concerned about Serbia and Kosovo remains a question, because even in relation to the EU and Serbia, things are not better, the prime minister said.
Speaking to Kosovo, Rama underlined that its independence is a reality and that recognition of this reality from Serbia would be in the interest of normalising relations in the region.
While Kosovo is an independent state, a state recognised by many countries, yet not all, there is no turning back, there is no way to turn it into a new Serbian fantasy. So, as I have always said, the sooner Serbs realize that they should see it as a fact of life, the better it will be for them, because they will not be persecuted by this ghost that is not letting them fully normalize as far as relations in the region are concerned, Rama stressed.
Source Layer: RTKLive