TIRANA, Aug. 6 – Kosovo President Hashim Thaci said he opposes the idea of ”‹”‹partitioning Kosovo along ethnic lines but is open to discuss the “correction” of borders during EU-mediated talks on normalizing relations between Kosovo and Serbia.
In an interview with the Associated Press news agency, President Thaci said that “Serbia’s claim of Kosovo’s partition will not succeed, it’s unacceptable. But in reaching Kosovo-Serbia final agreement we will work to finally get mutual de facto and de jure recognition between the two countries, as well as for Kosovo to eventually join all international organizations, including the UN. So there will be no division, but correction of borders which implies respecting the already institutionalized request of the Presevo Valley with Kosovo.”
Senior Serbian officials have come up with the idea of ”‹”‹Kosovo’s territorial division, which means the separation of the Serb-inhabited North, and also the possible exchange of territories – the North of Kosovo for the Presevo Valley, an Albanian-majority region south of Serbia.
President Thaà§i said “there will be no division, but border correction,” without specifying whether this includes trading the borders in North Kosovo.
The head of the Democratic League of Kosovo parliamentary group Avdullah Hoti told the Voice of America that his party is not ready to consider exchanging territories, but looks for the normalization talks to ensure mutual recognition and preserve Kosovo’s unity.
He added that Kosovo’s current government and president don’t have the legitimacy to head the negotiation talks with Serbia.
Last week, Kosovo’s opposition social-democrat Vetevendosje party called a hearing asking to pass a resolution to remove Thaci’s right to head the talks.
Meanwhile, US analyst Daniel Serwer reacted right after Kosovo President Hashim Thaci threw
the idea of ”‹”‹border correction, calling it a dangerous.
In an interview, Serwer said this idea in fact means exchanging territories, and that Thaci could not have presented the idea without agreeing with Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, while the West might have accepted it as a solution.
“This discussion would not have been open unless Brussels and Washington said it could be discussed, because in the past it was said that it could not be discussed and everyone understood the reasons,” Serwer said.
He added that opening this kind of discussion is not a solution to the Kosovo-Serbia issue.
“Diplomats have always understood that changing borders to satisfy ethnic change is an endless process. You can never have all the people on the right side of the border,” Sewer said.
On Monday, Thaci posted a tweet protecting his original idea again, despite the debates it has initiated in Kosovo and abroad.
“My proposal for a peaceful solution with Serbia is clear: no partition along ethnic lines, but yes to the border adjustment and mutual recognition,” Thaci wrote.
On the other hand, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said this is the best chance for a compromise to be reached on the Kosovo case.
Albanians want us to recognize Kosovo, plus if they can, take Medvedja, Presevo… that would be ideal for them. In this situation, the opportunity to reach a compromise opens. If there is already dialogue, there should be a proposal,” he told Serbian television Pink, stressing that partitioning Kosovo in ethnic lines is still the best solution.
On Friday, the US State Department called on Pristina and Belgrade to be creative and elastic in finding a solution to the normalization of relations between the two countries.
