Mustafaj talks on Kosova status at OSCE meting in Brussels

TIRANA, Dec. 5 – Foreign Minister Besnik Mustafaj took part at a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe held Tuesday in Brussels, Belgium. Mustafaj met with a number of counterparts to discuss bilateral relations and also other international topics. Albania’s process in the integration efforts into the European Union and NATO were of prior importance during the talks, according to a statement of the ministry. “A special place during the talks with the Kosova’s Contact Group member countries was covered from the Kosova issue and solution of its final status,” said the statement. Mustafaj repeated the importance of resolving the issue as soon as possible and also of the existence of no links between the process and the elections in Serbia. Mustafaj also appealed to all counterparts that their countries and the international community be clear in the process and asked for unity.
Albania has been the strongest supporter of independence for Kosova, where ethnic Albanians make up 90 percent of its population. Tirana says that delaying independence to Kosova could threaten regional stability. Albania has said Serbia’s constitutional claim over Kosova is unacceptable. Since the end of the war between Serb military forces and separatists in the southern province in 1999, Kosova has been run by a U.N. administration and patrolled by NATO peacekeepers.
Albania has offered its candidacy to take the OSCE rotating annual presidency in 2012.