TIRANA, June 20 – The scheduled joint meeting of the governments of Albania and Kosovo where 19 agreements and memoranda of understanding were signed in several areas was held in Pristina on Monday.
The speeches of the two premiers of Albania and Kosovo, Edi Rama and Albin Kurti, respectively were cloaked with the atmosphere of tension between them due to the failure of official Pristina to join the Open Balkans. Both premiers showed the tense relations in remarks full of mockery. Rama went that far as saying allegedly with a sense of humor that he was pro-Serb.
It is known the special relations existing between Rama and Serb President Aleksandar Vucic.
However, the agreements and memoranda signed between Albania and Kosovo cover areas of justice, education, agriculture, infrastructure, tourism and public safety.
The Ministers of Energy and Infrastructure presented the agreement on the construction of the Durrës-Prishtina railway line. The fund for this project is 1,980,000 euros, where Albania will cover 51% of this funding while the rest will be covered by Kosovo. In the same area, an agreement was signed on the joint construction of roads in the villages located near two different sides of the border.
The two governments agreed that there should be no ‘borders’ between the countries during the holidays and on weekends in the period June 1-September 30. This agreement makes it possible for the citizens of both countries to cross the border without being registered during this period.
Another agreement signed is for the admission of students to the universities of the two countries. It was agreed to unify all procedures related to student application or registration.
The two Ministers of Interior signed an agreement on the exchange of real-time data on the civil status. So in case a citizen of Kosovo gets married in Albania, the civil status in Kosovo will be notified in real time
While the Ministers of Finance, signed an agreement on the exchange of data for the realization of the right to a pension.
The two countries aim to move towards a customs union and they signed an accord on the establishment of a working group that will prepare the frame agreement.
Albania’s prime minister Edi Rama said the country plans to eliminate customs duties on all products imported from Kosovo. Albania will initially remove customs duties on agricultural products coming from Kosovo.
Rama also asked Kosovo’s government to reciprocate, although Tirana will move forth with the plan even if Pristina needs more time to abolish customs duties on imports from Albania.
In the meantime PM Kurti said in a post on Twitter after the conclusion of the meeting that Albanians today live better than ever.
“But we must not measure our success in terms of each other but compare it with the world. We need more unity between us and alignment in regional and foreign affairs,” noted Kurti.
/Argumentum.al
