Berisha rejects any land-swap deal in Kosovo

TIRANA, July 12 – Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha said last week he rejected recent speculations about a possible land-swap between Kosovo and Serbia, arguing that border changes in the Balkans are against Albanians’ interests and could destabilize the region.
“I want to say out loud that protecting the current borders in the Balkans is in Albanians’ interests, although I am the prime minister of Albania, a nation that lives in three other countries,” said Berisha during a speech at a summit in Dubrovnik this weekend. “I believe that protecting the current borders is essential,” he added.
In a talk show before that in Tirana he said that Albanians have suffered a lot in the past centuries with many of their lands given to other countries.
He said that the nation was set not to let any territory change as everything belongs to Albanians.
While Kosovo declared its independence two years ago, the authority of its government is effectively restricted to south of the Ibar River in the divided northern city of Mitrovica. The northern part of Kosovo, which is where the majority of Kosovo Serbs live, is largely controlled by Belgrade.
There have been rumors recently that Serbia will seek to trade part of its southern Presevo Valley bordering Kosovo, where ethnic Albanians make up the majority of the population, for the northern part of Mitrovica.
The land swap proposal was also rejected by Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci at the summit in Croatia.
That was also done Monday by Kosovar President Fatmir Sejdiu speaking in parliament.
Kosovo will not consider any land swap with Serbia along ethnic lines to ease tensions in the region as such a move could have wider negative consequences, according to Thaci.
“If we tolerate a change of the borders anywhere, then there will be a chain effect and consequences for the whole region.”
“The consequences [of a swap] would be in Macedonia, in Kosovo, in Serbia itself, in Montenegro and Bosnia. Every state in the region has its own Mitrovica,” said Thaci, a former guerrilla commander in Kosovo’s liberation war.
Last week, one person was killed by an explosion and another Serb member of Kosovo parliament was attacked in Mitrovica, highlighting the persistent tension between Albanians and Serbs, which are kept in check by 10,000 NATO troops.
EU diplomats oppose any non-consensual change of borders, but privately say a deal might work if the two states agree.
Tony Blair, British prime minister at the time of the 1998-99 war, said on Friday Kosovo’s independence will not be impacted by the ICJ verdict.
“The International Court of Justice will make its ruling but Kosovo’s independence is here to stay now,” Blair told Reuters in an interview at the end of a two-day visit.
“It is possible to envisage a situation where in time to come Serbia and Kosovo are actually in the European Union together, it is not impossible.”