Kosovo president welcomed among Balkan counterparts

VLORA, June 24 – Presidents of Western Balkan countries on Wednesday pushed for stronger regional ties as a step toward the area’s integration into the European Union and NATO.
In a meeting in this port city, 140 kilometers southwest of the capital Tirana, four heads of state discussed infrastructure and energy projects, tourism, the business environment, strengthening economic ties and fighting crime.
Albanian President Bamir Topi, Montenegro’s Filip Vujanovic, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’s Gjorgje Ivanov and Kosovo’s Fatmir Sejdiu attended the two-day meeting.
“The European Union countries would highly regard it if our countries would increase their economic and other exchange,” said Topi at the news conference at the end of the summit.
“Our joint goal is membership into NATO and the EU,” said his Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonian counterpart.
The Balkans were involved in a series of wars during the break-up of former Yugoslavia, which resulted in the creation of a number of new countries, including Kosovo last year.
Albania joined NATO in April, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Montenegro have applied to join the EU, while Kosova has still to be included in the accession processes.
“The EU would not be complete without accepting the Western Balkan countries,” said Kosovo president in his first presence as head of state at a summit.
Kosovo proclaimed independence last year and has been recognized by 60 Western nations, including the United States and most of the European Union. Serbia has said it will never accept Kosovo as a separate country.
Despite the readiness it was not clear whether any of the participants would undertake the initiative to invite their Serbian counterpart along with Kosovo in future summits.
Sejdiu and his Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonian counterpart said there were no open issues for their countries while the Montenegrin president said they were concerned about the Montenegrin community’s representation in the Kosovo parliament and the return of the deported.
“The meeting was a clear message that the region is looking to a better, peaceful future. It is a clear message to the people of our countries and to our international partners interested in the Western Balkan inclusion in the Euro-Atlantic family,” said Topi.
The regional presidential meeting in Albania brings signals of warming relations between the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Kosovo.
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonian President, Gjorgje Ivanov, late on Tuesday accepted an invitation from his Kosovo counterpart, Fatmir Sejdiu, to visit Pristina soon. Last month, the diplomatic fiasco with the cancellation of Sejdiu’s visit to Skopje soured bilateral relations.
“We shared the view with the President of Kosovo, Fatmir Sejdiu, that the misunderstanding which occurred recently was overcome,” Ivanov told the media. “He invited me to Prishtina and I accepted.”
Sejdiu in May canceled his planned visit to Skopje after the latter downgraded the visit from “official” to “working”. Skopje then argued that the lack of diplomatic ties prevented them from greeting Sejdiu with the traditional red carpet and honorary guard.