BELGRADE (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th July, 2023) Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti said on Wednesday that he would meet with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama only as part of a joint meeting between the two governments, ruling out separate one-on-one talks.
Against the backdrop of escalation in northern Kosovo in June, Rama urged Kurti to listen to Kosovo's western partners, expressing concern that the NATO-led Kosovo Force could practically take control over the region if Pristina did not take de-esclatation steps. Rama also canceled the meeting of the two governments following Kurti's refusal to meet with the Albanian prime minister in a bilateral format.
"I am ready to meet with Prime Minister Edi Rama as part of the meeting of the two governments, but not without this meeting ... I asked Prime Minister Rama to hold a groundlessly canceled meeting of the two cabinets scheduled for June 14 since he is in Pristina for two days and one night. We have prepared everything, 13 agreements should have been signed, which then have been on the table," Kurti was quoted as saying by the Kosovo Online news website.
In late May, clashes erupted in the north of Kosovo after the police forcibly installed new ethnic Albanian mayors in office in several northern cities following municipal elections in April. The polls were boycotted by the Serb community but declared valid despite a less than 3.5% voter turnout. More than 50 Serbian protesters and at least 30 NATO peacekeeping troops were injured in the clashes.
Serbia has still not recognized the self-proclaimed independence of Kosovo, its former province. A large ethnic Serb community is still residing in Kosovo's north, often bearing the brunt of diplomatic tensions between Belgrade and Pristina and protesting what they consider discriminatory Kosovar policies.
