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Remark of Kosovo President, Hashim Thaçi, at the Munich Conference on the topic: ‘In or out? The countries in-between Russia and Europe?’

Today I am very privileged to be in your midst, precisely on the day we mark the 10th anniversary of the declaration of the state of Kosovo. I had the great honor when on Sunday afternoon of February 17, 2008, as Prime Minister of the Government of Kosovo, I read the Declaration of the Independence of Kosovo. This Declaration did not only define the status of Kosovo. With it, we, as politicians and as citizens of Kosovo, confirmed that we are making a state that will have genuine political and civic liberal and democratic European values. A state which will aim to be an integral part of the North Atlantic Alliance and of the European Union. It could not have happened otherwise: Kosovo’s liberation and independence are true European and Western values. The liberation and the state of Kosovo would not happen without Kosovo’s extraordinary partnership with the USA and with Europe. Since then, the state of Kosovo has been recognized by 115 states. It has managed to mark progress in all possible directions. But for well-known reasons, the story about Kosovo is not fully rounded up, we are not yet a member of the UN, while our journey towards the EU is far too complicated But, the citizens of Kosovo know what they want, and we, as the political leadership, have no doubt what our direction should be as a state. Kosovo is the most pro-European, pro-American and pro-Western state in the Balkans. We are proud about this fact. We are unique in Kosovo about this orientation of ours. But we, in Kosovo, in the last ten years, have faced the great consequences of the lack of unity in the EU about the state of Kosovo. 23 EU member states have recognized Kosovo’s independence, but five states have not. If there was EU unity on Kosovo, as if the EU had spoken with one voice, with a stand for Kosovo, I am convinced that the state of Kosovo would be a more stable country. I am also sure that in this case, we would have already normalized relations with Serbia in entirety, which would be beneficial to Kosovo, Serbia and the whole region. With an EU unity on Kosovo, with a greater EU determination to integrate the last six Western Balkan states into the EU, I am convinced that today we would not have to deal with this subject, which links the stagnation in the EU enlargement process with the obvious progress of the Russia factor in these parts of Europe. But let us look ahead and show a political and diplomatic determination that could use a new momentum that is being created in these parts of the Balkans with the EU Enlargement Strategy announced just a few days ago. In this context, we as Kosovo, are committed to conclude the dialogue with Serbia, to make the Agreement legally binding by which Kosovo and Serbia, as two neighboring states, would enter into the unprecedented period in our common history, of good neighborliness, of reconciliation, and why not of a friendship in a common European future We do not have time to lose, neither we, nor Serbia. We, in Kosovo, want to give a successful epilogue to this dialogue this year, which with the legally binding Agreement, will be an extraordinary achievement for us, for the whole region, and for entire Europe. Kosovo is ready to put the final step in this direction, because we know that this big Agreement with Serbia will be the ultimate guarantee for the triumph of peace and stability in these parts of Europe. Moreover, this Agreement will be the most European act in the region for years, if not longer. I hope that in Brussels it will be understood as never before how important the achievement of this Agreement is, and what kind of impact it will have on the finalization of the political and geographic map of the EU, with the involvement of the six Western Balkan countries. Thank you for your attention!

Remark of Kosovo President, Hashim Thaçi, at the Munich Conference on the topic: ‘In or out? The countries in-between Russia and Europe?’

Today I am very privileged to be in your midst, precisely on the day we mark the 10th anniversary of the declaration of the state of Kosovo. I had the great honor when on Sunday afternoon of February 17, 2008, as Prime Minister of the Government of Kosovo, I read the Declaration of the Independence of Kosovo. This Declaration did not only define the status of Kosovo. With it, we, as politicians and as citizens of Kosovo, confirmed that we are making a state that will have genuine political and civic liberal and democratic European values. A state which will aim to be an integral part of the North Atlantic Alliance and of the European Union. It could not have happened otherwise: Kosovo’s liberation and independence are true European and Western values. The liberation and the state of Kosovo would not happen without Kosovo’s extraordinary partnership with the USA and with Europe. Since then, the state of Kosovo has been recognized by 115 states. It has managed to mark progress in all possible directions. But for well-known reasons, the story about Kosovo is not fully rounded up, we are not yet a member of the UN, while our journey towards the EU is far too complicated But, the citizens of Kosovo know what they want, and we, as the political leadership, have no doubt what our direction should be as a state. Kosovo is the most pro-European, pro-American and pro-Western state in the Balkans. We are proud about this fact. We are unique in Kosovo about this orientation of ours. But we, in Kosovo, in the last ten years, have faced the great consequences of the lack of unity in the EU about the state of Kosovo. 23 EU member states have recognized Kosovo’s independence, but five states have not. If there was EU unity on Kosovo, as if the EU had spoken with one voice, with a stand for Kosovo, I am convinced that the state of Kosovo would be a more stable country. I am also sure that in this case, we would have already normalized relations with Serbia in entirety, which would be beneficial to Kosovo, Serbia and the whole region. With an EU unity on Kosovo, with a greater EU determination to integrate the last six Western Balkan states into the EU, I am convinced that today we would not have to deal with this subject, which links the stagnation in the EU enlargement process with the obvious progress of the Russia factor in these parts of Europe. But let us look ahead and show a political and diplomatic determination that could use a new momentum that is being created in these parts of the Balkans with the EU Enlargement Strategy announced just a few days ago. In this context, we as Kosovo, are committed to conclude the dialogue with Serbia, to make the Agreement legally binding by which Kosovo and Serbia, as two neighboring states, would enter into the unprecedented period in our common history, of good neighborliness, of reconciliation, and why not of a friendship in a common European future We do not have time to lose, neither we, nor Serbia. We, in Kosovo, want to give a successful epilogue to this dialogue this year, which with the legally binding Agreement, will be an extraordinary achievement for us, for the whole region, and for entire Europe. Kosovo is ready to put the final step in this direction, because we know that this big Agreement with Serbia will be the ultimate guarantee for the triumph of peace and stability in these parts of Europe. Moreover, this Agreement will be the most European act in the region for years, if not longer. I hope that in Brussels it will be understood as never before how important the achievement of this Agreement is, and what kind of impact it will have on the finalization of the political and geographic map of the EU, with the involvement of the six Western Balkan countries. Thank you for your attention!

Kosovo is Europe’s Little Miracle

Ten years after our independence, there’s amazing progress Writes for “The Wall Street Journal”: Hashim Thaçi, President of the Republic of Kosovo   after a decade as an independent republic, Kosovo has plenty of reasons to celebrate. as we take stock of the achievements and challenges our nation faces, we need to remember the bleak starting point and the subsequent path Kosovo took to achieve statehood. I was still a student when Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic started a succession of wars in Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia. He sought to consolidate what he called “Greater Serbia”, and forcefully imposed an apartheid regime on Kosovo’s Albanians. the Kosovar Albanians tried peaceful resistance during the early 1990s, but rationality did not prevail. That’s why we had to begin fighting for our freedom and hoping that those who believed in Western values would support us. Our hunting rifles were no match for Serbian military and police. Our spirit and values were strong, but that meant little without direct involvement of the international community. Kosovo was saved by those who felt a responsibility to protect civilians from another Balkan genocide. From the moment the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) liberated Kosovo in 1999, it was clear a new nation would be born. The Republic of Kosovo became the youngest state in Europe on February 17, 2008. Those who read our declaration of independence realize that nothing in our state-building effort was unilateral. The negotiations led by Nobel Laureate President Martti Ahtisaari were deep and exhaustive. NATO, the European Union and other allies worked together to ensure peace and stability after independence. Their work proved fundamental to ensuring a smooth transition. Kosovo has had its detractors from the first days. The far left considers Kosovo to be a puppet of American and British imperialism, while the extreme right does not appreciate our religious and ethnic diversity. These extremes have encroached on the trans-Atlantic politic and media landscape – helped unfortunately by Russia’s propaganda machinery – and the pressure against Kosovo has not abated. Yet here we are, Kosovo is the country with the fastest average economic growth in the Western Balkans during the past decade. We were the first in the region to elect a female president. Our athletes, filmmakers, musicians and cultural figures have earned international attention. The challenges remain. He stressed that he has led the dialogue with Serbia that produced the historic Brussels Agreement in 2013, which opened a new era for peace and cooperation between two countries, after a century of hostilities. He also state to remain committed to work toward a new final deal that will mark the full normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia. The European Union has missed the story somewhat. In its recently approved enlargement strategy, Kosovo barely gets mentioned, supposedly because of Spanish concerns about separatism. Yet our friends in Madrid know that Spain has no Slobodan Milosevic, and Kosovo is not Catalonia. EU talks of joint trade zones and other technical issues miss the point. Of course we must meet EU conditions on the environment, economy and the rule of law. But we’re well on the way.

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