Belgrade's recognition inevitable, says Thaci

Kosovo PM Hashim Thaci believes it is "inevitable for Serbia to recognize Kosovo", and that the authorities in Belgrade are "all too aware of that". "In essence, Serbia has de facto recognized Kosovo as a state. There must be patience, time, to make that de jure. The recognition on Kosovo as a state by Serbia is inevitable, and the authorities in Belgrade are all too aware of that," he told VOA's Albanian language service on Thursday. Belgrade's recognition inevitable, says Thaci Thaci also stated that he hoped the EULEX deployment in the north of Kosovo "would allow for the Kosovo authority to be established there", but ruled out the use of force in order to achieve this. He said that Kosovo has "legitimate institutions and full international support", and that those institutions will "strictly respect and implement the Kosovo constitution and the document of the international envoy Martti Ahtisaari". "I understand that the government in Belgrade is talking about the UN secretary-general's six-point plan for marketing purposes aimed at their own public, for internal use, however, that proposal no longer exists for Kosovo as a document, project, a part of any politician's vocabulary, in Kosovo's institutions and the international community," said Thaci. He also ruled out the possibility to "talk to Belgrade about Kosovo's territorial integrity", because, he explained, "Kosovo has its territorial integrity recognized by 53 states". "We are very interested in developing excellent relations with neighbors Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, and in the near future with Serbia, so that we have joint tasks related to concrete interests of the two countries and two peoples," Thaci concluded.

Belgrade's recognition inevitable, says Thaci

Thaci also stated that he hoped the EULEX deployment in the north of Kosovo "would allow for the Kosovo authority to be established there", but ruled out the use of force in order to achieve this.

He said that Kosovo has "legitimate institutions and full international support", and that those institutions will "strictly respect and implement the Kosovo constitution and the document of the international envoy Martti Ahtisaari".

"I understand that the government in Belgrade is talking about the UN secretary-general's six-point plan for marketing purposes aimed at their own public, for internal use, however, that proposal no longer exists for Kosovo as a document, project, a part of any politician's vocabulary, in Kosovo's institutions and the international community," said Thaci.

He also ruled out the possibility to "talk to Belgrade about Kosovo's territorial integrity", because, he explained, "Kosovo has its territorial integrity recognized by 53 states".

"We are very interested in developing excellent relations with neighbors Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, and in the near future with Serbia, so that we have joint tasks related to concrete interests of the two countries and two peoples," Thaci concluded.