Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, whose new, third in a row government cabinet is to be voted today, in presenting the government program, focusing on the initiative “Open Balkans”, once again criticized Pristina for not joining the initiative, reports MIA.
He assessed the decision of Pristina as being hasty, that it is playing with ignorance and sent a message for it to accept and become part of this initiative, because according to him, all Albanians have benefit.
According to him, the saga of the Kosovo-Serbia conflict will never be closed with isolation, but only by opening, approaching the problem, discussion.
– Open Balkans is not a game of Serbia. Open Balkans is not a Russian or Chinese conspiracy for reviving Yugoslavia. It is not withdrawing from the integration. All these are just stories on Google, with an enemy whom Kosovo, Albania finally defeated as an enemy in a real war with cannons and guns, thanks to the US and the biggest European allies. It should be clear to everyone that Open Balkans is not a “Serbian game”, but “an offspring of the Berlin process”, said Rama.
With sharp tones, Rama replied to the critics of this initiative, who call him traitor, saying that “Albania cannot be lectured and its sovereign decision cannot be negotiated anywhere. Time will tell who is right”.
-The Kosovo authorities should make the decision, while we need to only respect it. However, the Albanian authorities decide for Albania and they have to respect our decisions. If we do not like the decisions, we should talk about them, but never declare them traitors, pro-Russians and pro-Serbs, those who think differently, playing with ignorance. Open Balkans is a n offspring of the Berlin process, outlined Rama.
He added that if the Albanian people do not present themselves as people committed to peace, then they are destined to lose.
Translation: N. Cvetkovska
