KFOR commander visit Albania, Berisha urges quick solution of Kosovo status

TIRANA, Nov. 26 – Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha said Monday that any delay in the Kosovo status process would threaten peace and stability in the region. In a meeting with the visiting commander of the NATO-led peacekeeping force, known as KFOR, Lt. Gen. Xavier Bout de Marnhac, Berisha also encouraged the Kosovo ethnic Albanian leadership “to continue to closely coordinate and cooperate with the international community, the U.S. and the European Union in this important period leading to the solution of the Kosovo status,” according to a statement. Albania has been the strongest supporter of independence for Kosovo, where ethnic Albanians make up 90 percent of its population, saying that Serbia’s constitutional claim over Kosovo is unacceptable.
The KFOR commander hailed Tirana’s moderating role in the region, praising Albania’s contribution on regional stability and security, the statement said.
Since the end of the war between Serb military forces and separatists in the southern province in 1999, Kosovo has been run by a U.N. administration and patrolled by some 16,000 NATO peacekeepers. Internationally mediated talks on the future status of Kosovo entered a critical phase Monday as the breakaway province’s ethnic Albanian leaders and their Serbian rivals meet before the mediators report back to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on December 10. Kosovo demands full independence from Serbia, which has offered the province broad autonomy but insists it remain part of Serbia.
De Marnhac also met with Deputy Interior Minister Genti Strazimiri and top police official Ahmet Prenci to discuss joint efforts to fight organized crime along the borders, especially illegal drug and weapons trafficking. (Tirana Times Staff)