Thaci says Kosovo will be partitioned over his dead body

Thaci says Kosovo will be partitioned over his dead body

"Territory exchange will never happen, territorial exchange is a deal and will never be allowed, and a partition of Kosovo can only happen over my dead body," Thaci said in Tirana, Albanian, where he was meeting with representatives of the Albanian diaspora.

Nobody, Thaci further claims, "can divide Trepca (minining complex), Mitrovica and Lake Gazivode (hydro power complex - all in the north, Serb part of Kosovo - Ed.) - nor "take a centimeter of Kosovo's territory," Pristina-based Gazeta Blic quoted him as saying on Friday.

He further added that "no one can deny his commitment" to adding to Kosovo the so-called Presevo Valley - i.e., three municipalities in the south of central Serbia, Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac - and do this without this "affecting the integrity" of the so-called Republic of Kosovo.

Thaci also rejected any form a Balkan Union, because, as he said, it would violate "the territory of the Republic of Kosovo."

"The Albanian nation must be strengthened. Kosovo has friends and partners such as the US- the EU, but it also has political opponents. The Kosovo army will be an army of peace...," Thaci said.

Expressing gratitude to the United States for supporting the transformation of the Kosovo Security Forces (KSF) into the so-called army, Thaci said that Pristina is "preparing to enter the final phase of the dialogue with Belgrade in order to reach a comprehensive agreement on the normalization of relations."

"We will not allow an international conference to be organized, where Russia would participate, we will only allow the support of the United States," Thaci said, adding that Ramush Haradinaj, the prime minister of the provisionl Pristina institutions, has already abandoned this idea, "following his advice."

Thaci also said that he would "not allow the relations with the United States to be undermined because of narrow political interests."

"We must work together with the United States without any interest, and we will not allow daily political interests to compromise our relations with the United States, which is the most deserving for Kosovo's independence," the Pristina media outlet reported, as quoted by Tanjug.