“Besides photos and excessive protagonism of the meetings that are taking place so often, I do not know what they are producing,” said the chairman of the Democratic Party (DP), Lulzim Basha.
In a comment on the meeting between the political leaders of Albania, Montenegro and Serbia held in Skopje on Thursday Basha said it was a hypocrisy which, according to him, did not produce any good news for the Balkans.
PMs of Albania and North Macedonia Edi Rama and Zoran Zaev, and President of Serbia Alexandar Vucic sealed the creation of “Open Balkans” project on the basis of the ‘min-Schengen’ in Skopje on Thursday. Some analysts said the proposal comes on the back of mounting frustration of these countries over the slow pace of EU enlargement.
But the DP head Basha said the position of his political force has always been that for free movement in the region it is crucial mutual recognition of Kosovo and Serbia. “The Democratic Party supports the dialogue but we have left no dilemma for the conclusion of this dialogue – it should be mutual recognition. We are happy that the US and the EU are clear on this objective.”
In addition Basha said no meeting should serve as an alibi to escape the constitutional obligations that every Albanian prime minister has to take care of the fate of Albanians in the Presevo Valley. “Their bad luck is the deregistration of Albanians from their country. I do not know how much time Edi Rama spent talking on it to his friend Vucic, and if he spent time, he has kept it hidden,” Basha said.
A press release issued by DP said Basha received the mayor of Bujanovac Negip Arifi and the accompanying delegation at the party headquarters on Thursday.
“It was discussed on the challenges and problems faced by Albanian compatriots in the municipality of Bujanovac and the Presevo Valley,” said the DP statement. / argumentum.al
