Berisha says union with Kosovo not an option

TIRANA, Dec. 17 – Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha said that a union between Albania and neighboring Kosovo, which has an ethnic Albanian majority, is not an option.
Instead, he said, integrating with the European Union was the best option for both Albania and Kosovo.
Kosovo, which declared independence on February 17, 2008, despite opposition from Serbia, has been recognized as an independent state by more than 80 countries.
Serbian officials have expressed on numerous occasions their fears that Kosovo and Albania may unite and create a “Great Albania” in the Balkan Peninsula.
“The project of Albanians’ unification is the project of integration into the EU and I guarantee that when Albanians in Albania and Kosovo have reached those standards of being an EU member, they will be better than ever in their history,” said Berisha. “That’s the project and we should see our future in the EU.”
He was responding to questions from a group of Kosovo students visiting Tirana about whether the two countries could soon join or whether they will remain separate forever.
Serbia lost Kosovo after a crackdown on ethnic Albanian rebels prompted NATO bombardments in 1999.
Albania plays an active lobbying role for more recognition of Kosovo.
Referring to the tense situation in Kosovo’s northern region of Mitrovica and its demand to break away from Kosovo, Berisha said that “Albanians’ best national interest is preserving the existing borders.”
“Albanians should not accept, in any case or circumstances, to lose even a single square meter of land. If Albanians would ask for border changes, a map redrawing, I may guarantee there would be undeserved losses of Albanian territories.”
The Albanian premier also said that Tirana closely watches developments in the Albanian community in the southern Serb region of Presevo, near the boundary with Kosovo. It was the scene of an ethnic Albanian rebellion in 2000-2001 against Serbian rule, ending in a Western-brokered peace deal.