TIRANA, Feb. 19 – The Acting Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Gent Cakaj spoke to the media after meeting with his Kosovo counterpart Glauk Konjufca during an official visit to Kosovo.
Cakaj said that they discussed with Konjufca about the expansion of cooperation between the two states and the removal of the border.
“The work of Minister Konjufca, especially in the current circumstances, at a time when there are many questions, is essential for further international strengthening of Kosovo’s position, and is therefore not only a matter of Kosovo, but also a matter of raising national interests in general,” Cakaj said.
He added he is happy to be in Kosovo for two reasons – for coming at a time when the new government has just been formed, in time to give new impetus to cooperation between the two countries and for holding talks to expand cooperation.
Cakaj thanked Kosovo for the earthquake relief provided to Albania, saying the Kosovo government gave valuable funding after the earthquake.
He further added that the border between the two states is only symbolic.
“The tragedy proved once again that the border that divides the two countries is symbolic and that cooperation must inevitably deepen. The border between Kosovo and Albania should not exist at all, it should be removed immediately and our countries should enjoy unlimited freedom of movement,” he said.
Cakaj added that they also dealt with some problems with Konjufca, such as the one of the joint embassies.
“With Konjufca we dealt with some problems that are essential for cooperation. We expressed our readiness to develop joint embassies. We are also ready in considerable numbers to carry on with the same practice. I would like to point out that given the need for concretization of cooperation and the meeting of the two governments, I have proposed to Konjufca two initial agreements, the first being that we must come together to sign a cost-sharing agreement in a lobbying campaign recognition of Kosovo. The second agreement is that of sharing experiences regarding the European integration process,” he said.
Cakaj also met with Kosovo President Hashim Thaci.
He discussed with him also about establishing the joint embassies and working on removing the border between the countries, in order to maximize cooperation.
