Prishtina, February 18, 2018 – The President of the country, Hashim Thaçi, organized today a state reception in honor of the guests invited for the tenth anniversary of the independence.
Before the international guests, President Thaçi said that he is excited to mark this anniversary together, enjoying the achievements of our country and confirming once again that we remain united in our commitment to our common values: freedom, equality, a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society, tolerance, cooperation and dialogue.
“When we recall where we were 20 years ago, where we were 10 years ago, and see where we are now, we have every reason to be proud and content”, said President Thaçi.
He said that since the end of the war we have worked to build peace.
“The ones who read our declaration of independence understand that nothing in our state building efforts was unilateral. The negotiations led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martti Ahtisaari were profound and exhaustive. NATO, the European Union and other allies worked together to find solutions that will bring sustainable peace and stability. This solution was the independence of Kosovo and our decade as a state has proved this. When we evaluate these ten years, we see that we are the country with the largest economic growth in the Western Balkans in the last decade.
We are the country that has elected the country's first woman President in our entire region. We are a country that guarantees the rights of all communities in our constitution. The first time we took part in the Olympics, we won a gold medal. We are consolidated as a state, both at home and abroad. Today the northern part of Kosovo is integrated and law and order have begun to function. We have built excellent relations with all neighbours. Even with Serbia, we have reached the first agreement on the normalization in Brussels and now we are working for full normalization of relations and good neighbourliness”, said President Thaçi.
The Head of State added that the best confirmation of the success of our reforms is the signing of the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the European Union.
“This shows that we have walked with great and steady steps in economic and political reforms and in justice. The Republic of Kosovo, as an independent and sovereign state has a clear vision for the future: we will become members of the EU, NATO and the UN. This vision of ours has no alternative and we will manage to make it a reality”, said President Thaçi.
The President has said that we have challenges ahead, but our challenges are the same as those of all other neighbouring states.
“Economic development, the opening of new jobs, empowerment of the rule of law.
These are the challenges of today. But, along with our friends, I’m sure we will manage to cope with these challenges as well. And we will walk securely towards the realization of the other dream – the membership into the European Union, NATO and the UN”, he said.
The President of the country, Hashim Thaçi, has said that we must celebrate and rejoice about our achievements, but also think and work perseveringly for the accomplishment of our aspirations.