Washington, December 1st 2018 \u2013 President of the Republic of Kosovo, Hashim Tha\u00e7i, on the last day of his official visit to the USA, held a public lecture at the \u201cAtlantic Council\u201d in Washington, where he spoke about engagements undertaken towards the achievement of a peaceful agreement with Serbia, in order to establish sustainable peace in western Balkans.<\/p>\n
President Tha\u00e7i said that even though has always been ready and has been continuously asking for peace, from Rambouillet to Vienna, Serbia has never agreed to make peace with Kosovo. <\/p>\n
But now, according to President Tha\u00e7i, due to international pressure, Serbia too is ready for a peaceful, comprehensive agreement with Kosovo.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, he said, that Kosovo has learned from the past that there is no agreement without compromise, and it has also learned that if it cooperates with its international partners, with the United States of America, compromise has brought to realisations of aspirations of the people of Kosovo.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you ask why are we asking for a peaceful agreement now, I say to you that now is the momentum when Serbia is also ready for such an agreement\u201d, said Presdient Tha\u00e7i.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe agreement seems distant as yet, almost impossible\u201d, said President Tha\u00e7i and added that \u201cdespite all I am an optimist and that it can be achieved\u201d.<\/p>\n
Knowing that the audience is interested to know about the other issue between Kosovo and Serbia, President Tha\u00e7i said that issue of determination of the border between Kosovo and Serbia is only one of the points of of the comprehensive agreement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe comprehensive agreement with conclude all the open issues between Kosovo and Serbia, from the issues of missing persons and refugees all the way to the property and community rights of communities\u201d, said the President.<\/p>\n
Speaking in relation to benefits which the agreement would bring, President Tha\u00e7i said that there are three important benefits of this peaceful agreement.<\/p>\n
\u201cSerbia will be recognising Kosovo. Kosovo will become a UN member state and the European perspective of both countries and for the region will strengthen\u201d, said President Tha\u00e7i, and added that \u201cEU has made it clear to us at the Sofia Summit that it will not accept western Balkans in its midst, for as long as the western Balkan countries do not close all the outstanding open issues between them\u201d.<\/p>\n
But, EU and USA will also be benefiting from the peaceful agreement, added President Tha\u00e7i.<\/p>\n
\u201cProcess will continue to be lead by the EU, but with the full and strong support of the United States.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe right momentum for a peaceful agreement has been established. Let us utilize this opportunity\u201d, said President Tha\u00e7i at his address to the \u201cAtlantic Council\u201d in Washington.<\/p>\n
President of the Republic of Kosovo, Hashim Tha\u00e7i, later answered the questions presented by participants, who wanted to hear in more detail about the Kosovo \u2013Serbia border issue and added that \u201cthere will be no exchange of territories or division of Kosovo\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere will be no border along ethnic lines or exchange of population\u201d, added President Tha\u00e7i.<\/p>\n
In relation to the tensions between the two countries, President Tha\u00e7i said that these tensions confirm once again the need to achieve a peaceful agreement as soon as it is possible and to end the \u201ccentury\u2019s long conflict between Kosovo and Serbia\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet us not deal with the past but let us look to the future. We shall not forget the past but will endeavour for a peaceful future and for prosperity of coming generations\u201d ended President Tha\u00e7i.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Washington, December 1st 2018 \u2013 President of the Republic of Kosovo, Hashim Tha\u00e7i, on the last day of his official visit to the USA, held a public lecture at the \u201cAtlantic Council\u201d in Washington, where he spoke about engagements undertaken towards the achievement of a peaceful agreement with Serbia, in order to establish sustainable peace in western Balkans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25956,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[113,111],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-visits","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n