Kosovo official thanks Slovenia for support

Skender Hyseni, appointed by the Kosovo government to be its foreign minister, thanked Slovenia for its support. During his visit to Slovenia, Hyseni said that he felt at home, and thanked Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel and the Slovenian government for their “role during the EU presidency, and their decade-long support for Kosovo.” Kosovo official thanks Slovenia for support The minister was invited by Rupel for his first working visit to Slovenia. Rupel and Hyseni gave statements to the media before beginning their meeting at the Bled Lake resort. “I am very happy to be here, I feel at home,” Hyseni said, adding that he would like to thank Rupel and Slovenia on behalf of the Kosovo people for recognizing Kosovo as an independent country. He said that after declaring unilateral independence, Kosovo had started a difficult but determined process of building independent institutions, a sovereign state of Kosovo, adding that the province had recently adopted a constitution meeting all the highest modern standards, and guaranteeing a very high level of protection for minority communities. “We committed to implementing the Ahtisaari Plan, and especially to implementing the provisions of the plan concerning, first and foremost, the protection of the Serb minority. We also have plans for ‘in the field’ implementation such as decentralization, and the protection of cultural and religious monuments that have great significance to Kosovo, and especially the Serb people that live in Kosovo,” Hyseni explained. He added that Kosovo was committed to a European perspective, and adopting and implementing all the values that existed in Western democracies. “Because of this, we are working hard in order to ensure that every piece of legislation confirms Kosovo’s full dedication to EU legislation,” said the minister, adding that he would like to thank Slovenia for its role in presiding over the EU, and its decade-long support for the Kosovo people, Kosovo, and peace and stability in the region. “The decade-long support for Kosovo was support for peace and stability in the region, because supporting Kosovo for decades was supporting the right of an entire nation to freedom and independence,” Hyseni said, adding that Kosovo now had independence and that its people were now free, but that Pristina was determined that “every individual that lives in Kosovo should live in freedom and enjoy the rights of independence. “Kosovo has committed to creating a multi-ethnic society, and we are working on that. Also, Kosovo is dedicated to fostering close ties with our neighbors, including Serbia,” he said. Hyseni said that the province would continue to insist on good relations with Serbia, on a normalization of relations, because the future of the region and “our countries is in cooperation and good neighborly relations, and not on animosity, which we saw enough of during the collapse of Yugoslavia.” “We have certain problems in the north, but we’ll solve them through close cooperation with the EU and the international community in Kosovo,” Hyseni said, thanking Rupel for the military presence of Slovenian troops in the province, and the EULEX mission. “Slovenia has a strong presence in Kosovo, and with its business and investments we are here to encourage future cooperation between Kosovo and Slovenia in other fields as well, especially the economy,” said the minister, adding that cooperation between Kosovo and Slovenia had a great future.

Kosovo official thanks Slovenia for support

The minister was invited by Rupel for his first working visit to Slovenia.

Rupel and Hyseni gave statements to the media before beginning their meeting at the Bled Lake resort.

“I am very happy to be here, I feel at home,” Hyseni said, adding that he would like to thank Rupel and Slovenia on behalf of the Kosovo people for recognizing Kosovo as an independent country.

He said that after declaring unilateral independence, Kosovo had started a difficult but determined process of building independent institutions, a sovereign state of Kosovo, adding that the province had recently adopted a constitution meeting all the highest modern standards, and guaranteeing a very high level of protection for minority communities.

“We committed to implementing the Ahtisaari Plan, and especially to implementing the provisions of the plan concerning, first and foremost, the protection of the Serb minority. We also have plans for ‘in the field’ implementation such as decentralization, and the protection of cultural and religious monuments that have great significance to Kosovo, and especially the Serb people that live in Kosovo,” Hyseni explained.

He added that Kosovo was committed to a European perspective, and adopting and implementing all the values that existed in Western democracies.

“Because of this, we are working hard in order to ensure that every piece of legislation confirms Kosovo’s full dedication to EU legislation,” said the minister, adding that he would like to thank Slovenia for its role in presiding over the EU, and its decade-long support for the Kosovo people, Kosovo, and peace and stability in the region.

“The decade-long support for Kosovo was support for peace and stability in the region, because supporting Kosovo for decades was supporting the right of an entire nation to freedom and independence,” Hyseni said, adding that Kosovo now had independence and that its people were now free, but that Priština was determined that “every individual that lives in Kosovo should live in freedom and enjoy the rights of independence.

“Kosovo has committed to creating a multi-ethnic society, and we are working on that. Also, Kosovo is dedicated to fostering close ties with our neighbors, including Serbia,” he said.

Hyseni said that the province would continue to insist on good relations with Serbia, on a normalization of relations, because the future of the region and “our countries is in cooperation and good neighborly relations, and not on animosity, which we saw enough of during the collapse of Yugoslavia.”

“We have certain problems in the north, but we’ll solve them through close cooperation with the EU and the international community in Kosovo,” Hyseni said, thanking Rupel for the military presence of Slovenian troops in the province, and the EULEX mission.

“Slovenia has a strong presence in Kosovo, and with its business and investments we are here to encourage future cooperation between Kosovo and Slovenia in other fields as well, especially the economy,” said the minister, adding that cooperation between Kosovo and Slovenia had a great future.