"Rama's statement was misinterpreted" - Thaci

"Rama's statement was misinterpreted" - Thaci

Thaci, who serves as Kosovo's deputy prime minister and foreign minister, addressed the controversy on Wednesday during his visit to Croatia, to say that the statement "in no way concerned a change of borders."

Instead, he said, it was about "reducing their visibility, according to the European model, so people can move freely."

"We will all one day belong to that European space," said Thaci, who in Zagreb met with Croatia's Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic and President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic.

Asked to comment on Rama's statement, to which the EU also reacted "after reviewing the interview," Thaci said that Rama is "a reform-minded leader who has a clear European vision for Albania and strongly supports dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia."

Furthermore, Thaci said that Rama and himself "share the same vision about the region according to the European model of open borders."

When reporters insisted that he comments on Rama's statement, Thaci said he was "not Rama's spokesperson," but was "talking about what he heard during the interview which he attended."

"If we talk about that interview, none of us spoke about a national unification or a change of borders," said Thaci.

Vesna Pusic was quoted as telling journalists that she "does not know what exactly the Albanian prime minister said," but that there would be "no change of borders in the Europe," and that their importance "diminishes" with EU membership.

Speaking about the visa liberalization for residents of Kosovo, Pusic said the EU "does not award efforts, but the functioning of institutions," and that she "hoped Kosovo would sign the SAA by summer, which would be significantly helpful for a future visa liberalization."