PRISTINA, Feb 19: Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said today his country and Kosovo could one day have a single president as a “symbol of national unity” between Tirana and Pristina.
In a remark certain to anger Belgrade, Rama noted that the two neighbours, both predominantly ethnic Albanian, already share diplomatic missions around the world, adding: “Why not a single president, as a symbol of national unity?” Rama was addressing Kosovos parliament to mark the 10th anniversary of the countrys unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia, a move recognised by more than 110 countries, though not by Belgrade or Moscow.
Serbia has repeatedly accused Tirana of wanting to build a “Greater Albania”, an aspiration it denies.
Efforts to normalise ties between Belgrade and Pristina, begun in 2011, have stalled.
Rama said he saw a future in which “Albanians and Serbians will co-exist… Like two countries with good neighbourly relations that are an integral part of the European Union.”
The 1998-99 Kosovo war, the last of the conflicts that broke up Yugoslavia, claimed more than 13,000 lives including more than 11,000 ethnic Albanians of Kosovo.
The conflict ended after a three-month NATO air campaign that forced Serbs out of Kosovo and put it under UN protection. (AGENCIES)
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