Kosovo Admits Adjusting Borders in Case of a Treaty with Serbia

The president of the self-proclaimed republic of Kosovo Hashim Thaci admitted on Thursday that if the agreement on final normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina is signed, they may adjust the existing borders and the administrative line. The leadership of Belgrade does not admit the border with the self-proclaimed republic and calls the dividing line within the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija an administrative line within Serbia. Beyond this line in the territory of the southern part of central Serbia there are the municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja, partially inhabited by Albanians, whose leaders periodically require the integration of their Presevo Valley with Pristina. Thaci said on Thursday that Kosovo has about 400 kilometers of “border with Serbia” and that until the border is officially demarcated Kosovo-Albanian authorities in Pristina “cannot finish the process of state forming and its consolidation”. He hopes to raise the demarcation issue at the next round of talks with the Serbian leadership through the EU mediation in Brussels. However, the date of the talks has not yet been set. “We will talk about demarcation, about border adjusting, but I remind you that under no conditions from any side can Serbian intentions to divide Kosovo be realized. At the same time, I am convinced that within the border adjusting an official request from Presevo Valley leadership to join Kosovo is acceptable for us and can be met, if the treaty is achieved”,  Kosovo Radio and Television quote Thaci as saying. The president of the self-proclaimed republic noted that such a historic treaty between Belgrade and Pristina should be “mutual recognition”. “Thaci knows very well that neither Medvegja nor Bujanovci nor Presheva will join Kosovo and there is no mentioning that Serbia will join North Kosovo up to the Ibar River”, the influential Kosovo opposition leader the deputy chairman of Alternativa Ilat Dada noted in Facebook and added that “Thaci only manipulates the feelings of Albanians in the Presevo Valley”. “A comprehensive agreement on normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina” conclusion is an official requirement of Brussels for the European integration for Serbia and the self-proclaimed republic. The Kosovo Albanian structures in Pristina in February 2008 unilaterally proclaimed independence from Serbia. The self-proclaimed republic is not recognized by Serbia, Russia, China, Israel, Iran, Spain, Greece and a number of other states. The authorities of Serbia, under the pressure of Brussels and to bring the region closer to the European Union, and also to ease the life of Serbian citizens had to begin negotiations in 2011 on normalizing relations with Kosovo Albanians through the mediation of the EU. Source: RIA Novosti