Thaci: Better cooperation with new govt.

Kosovo Premier Hashim Thaci said on Tuesday that he hopes the new Serbian government will cooperate more closely with the Kosovo authorities. Kosovo wishes to cooperate on practical issues and wants normal relations with Belgrade, Thaci said in Brussels, addressing the A Balkan Balance Sheet policy summit. Thaci: Better cooperation with new govt. Thaci expressed hope that Belgrade will support Kosovo Serbs "in keeping with the Ahtisaari plan, and that it will not manipulate them". He also said he hopes the European Union will help Pristina implement this plan "and integrate Serbs in northern Kosovo", stressing that "territorial integrity of Kosovo is guaranteed by the international community". Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha, also taking part in the gathering, criticized the Belgrade authorities, claiming they are forming Serbian parallel institutions in Kosovo, and pointed out that the situation in northern Kosovo should be taken as the key test for the new government of Serbia. The existing international borders of Kosovo must be respected in full, Berisha said. Kosovska Mitrovica and the north of Kosovo are not a unique case, he said, because there are at least three such places in Serbia, in the Presevo Valley, alluding to three multi-ethnic municipalities in the southern part of central Serbia inhabited by ethnic Albanians.

Thaci: Better cooperation with new govt.

Thaci expressed hope that Belgrade will support Kosovo Serbs "in keeping with the Ahtisaari plan, and that it will not manipulate them".

He also said he hopes the European Union will help Priština implement this plan "and integrate Serbs in northern Kosovo", stressing that "territorial integrity of Kosovo is guaranteed by the international community".

Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha, also taking part in the gathering, criticized the Belgrade authorities, claiming they are forming Serbian parallel institutions in Kosovo, and pointed out that the situation in northern Kosovo should be taken as the key test for the new government of Serbia.

The existing international borders of Kosovo must be respected in full, Berisha said.

Kosovska Mitrovica and the north of Kosovo are not a unique case, he said, because there are at least three such places in Serbia, in the Preševo Valley, alluding to three multi-ethnic municipalities in the southern part of central Serbia inhabited by ethnic Albanians.