The Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, while speaking about the integration of the Western Balkan countries into the European Union and the opening of new chapters for Albania, said that Kosovo should not think about Serbia or know what the Serbian state is doing, but according to Rama, it should fulfill its duties in relation to the EU.
He stated that he is saddened by the fact that no progress has been made in this regard.
"It saddens me to see that there is no progress in this regard. I have been and continue to remain convinced that there is a very clear path: Kosovo should not think about Serbia, should not see Serbia, should not know what Serbia is doing. It should do its homework and should give the EU all that homework notebook and seek to move forward. This is not about accepting what Serbia is asking for, it is about accepting what the EU is asking for. This EU-mediated dialogue is a big failure because the format is wrong because it is based on a very simple principle: Countries should accept conditions related to EU values. If Kosovo does this, it is in its best interest, but it should not link it to Serbia," Rama declared.
From Vienna, where he is participating in the "Albania, New Horizon" conference, Prime Minister Rama said that Albania is on the right path towards EU integration.
"We are in a process that has advanced very much practically, we are opening the negotiation chapters at a speed that has never been seen before during the accession process. But, I have to say that it is a combination of our merit and the EU's new approach to enlargement, due to the war in Ukraine that has shaken Europe and that has conveyed to leaders that the importance of a united Europe is existential and the Western Balkans are naturally part of the EU body. We are currently in a very intensified accession process and I am hopeful that it will happen sooner rather than later," Rama said at the conference.
Albania, in mid-September, opened four more chapters in the European Union accession negotiation process, bringing the total number of open chapters to 28. There are only five negotiation chapters left, as out of the 35 chapters in this process, two are not being negotiated and remain at the end.