Kosovo Urges Normalizing Ties to Serbia

The resolution which was adopted on Thursday and promoted by Hashim Thaci’s government, urges normalization of ties to Serbia - a precondition for Kosovo's European integration process.

With 68 votes for, three against and three abstentions the resolution passed after debates and polemics led by the opposition Self-Determination Movement, which at the end boycotted the vote.

Prime Minister Thaci told MPs that the resolution meets one of the tasks set by the European Union, which says no country can integrate into the bloc without first resolving any remaining disputes with its neighbours.

“Thirteen years after the the war, we stand here not to evoke the past and play with the emotions of our citizens but to act rationally as statesmen," he said.

Moving on did not mean forgiving Serbia, he added. "Even if Serbia apologized for the genocide it carried out in Kosovo, we will not forget what it did to us,” he said.

The resolution on normalizing relations supports the process of reconciliation through dialogue on issues concerning the lives of citizens of both countries, advancing their common European agenda and solving outstanding problems.

“Today we are free, independent and sovereign. But the independence doesn’t suffice. We have to integrate into the EU and NATO, and good neighbourly relations are a precondition to joining," the Prime Minister said.

Since March 2011, the EU has been facilitating a technical dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, which, according to a UN General Assembly resolution, is aimed at normalizing the relationship between parties - three years after Kosovo declared independence, which Serbia refuses to recognize.

So far, the two sides have reached deals on freedom of movement, mutual recognition of university diplomas and representation of Kosovo at regional meetings. Pristina has accused Belgrade of putting most agreements on hold.

The Self-determination (Vetevendosje) Movement says that reconciliation with Serbia is possible only if it recognizes Kosovo first.

Glauk Konjufca, an MP from the movement, said that Kosovo was giving in to Serbia’s demands and talking to Belgrade without making it honour and implement the deals that the two sides had reached.

“The government... wants... to make further concessions that will harm Kosovo,” Glauk Konjufca, from Vetevendosje, said.