Following his visit to the United States, where, in the course of proceedings conducted at the UN General Assembly, he attended a reception hosted by President Obama and met with many presidents and state representatives, the President of the Republic of Kosovo, Dr. Fatmir Sejdiu, expressed his optimism about the results of these meetings, pointing out that they may soon result in new recognitions of the Republic of Kosovo by several states.
At a press conference held in the premises of Pristina International Airport, President Sejdiu said the main aim of the visit was to meet representatives of many countries of the world, especially those that have not recognized the Republic of Kosovo yet.
“In this framework” – he added – “I had the special opportunity to meet the President of the United States, Mr. Barak Obama, at a reception staged for personalities participating in the UN General Assembly session, which represents a practice followed by the presidents of the United States. “Once again, I conveyed to him our appreciation for the support that the United States has provided to Kosovo continuously and, of course, for their renewed commitment to maintain this support without any hesitation” – he said.
Speaking about meetings with United States senior officials, President Sejdiu referred to the meeting with the National Security Advisor, General Jones, the Assistant Secretary of State, Mr. Philip Gordon and the Deputy Assistant Secretary, Mr. Stuart Jones, two friends that performed important functions for Kosovo in the past, Mr. Daniel Fried and Mrs. Rosemari Di Carlo and other important figures of the Department of State.
President Sejdiu mentioned the meetings he had during his one-week stay in New York. In this framework, he distinguished a very meaningful meeting with the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Spain, Mr. Zapatero. “He mentioned again Spain’s position on Kosovo and maintained that it was not possible to recognize Kosovo in the form in which we are requesting at present, but he said that he has a special consideration for the major progress that was made in Kosovo, adding that Spain will remain committed to providing an important contribution to the EU joint policies aimed at supporting Kosovo, even after it will take over the EU presidency” – President Sejdiu said, adding that he has requested the presence, even a symbolic one, of Spanish troops with KFOR and that he praises the great work done by Spanish soldiers during their deployment in Kosovo.
“During this time, at a bilateral and official meeting, I also met the Emir of Qatar,. The Emir expressed his highest considerations for the progress made in Kosovo and I believe that soon they will proceed with the recognition and that they will be followed by other Islamic Conference member states” – President Sejdiu anticipated.
President Sejdiu said that, in the beginning, he had a bilateral meeting with the President of Malawi, a Central African republic with a population of around 14 million. “It was a very cordial meeting. I believe that they have now reached the final procedures for announcing the recognition and that there will probably be good news about it” – President Sejdiu said, adding that he has received a prior notification on the recognition of the Republic of Kosovo from the Prime Minister of Tuvalu as well.
“I had a bilateral meeting with the President of Latvia, a country that has recognized the Republic of Kosovo and that is strongly resolved to assist us during the major integration processes by making available to us the good experience that they have in facing the first obstacles in this regard. I have invited him, but others as well, to come to Kosovo and I believe we will exchange visits” – President Sejdiu said, adding that the meeting with the President of Croatia, Mr. Mesić, discussed various issues that relate to bilateral relations between the two countries. He also said that, on this occasion, he expressed his high consideration for the support that this country is providing to Kosovo.
“I have met the Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey, Mr. Erduan, who remains strongly committed to supporting the Republic of Kosovo, together with his officials, diplomats and influential figures surrounding him. At the reception hosted by President Obama, I have also met the presidents of Nepal, Grenada, Jamaica and so on. We have had other meetings in the meantime with other delegations during a ceremony celebrating the fortieth anniversary of the Organization of Islamic Conference, where I have met the President of Sudan, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan and many other officials of other countries” – President Sejdiu said, mentioning here also the meetings that he has had with the President of Macedonia, Mr. Ivanov, and the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Mr. Vujanović. He also said that he has met and talked to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Albania, Mr. Sali Berisha, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Albania, Mr. Ilir Meta.
President Sejdiu also reminded that he has held a keynote speech at a meeting for Balkan leaders, organized by Rudgers Institute, on the topic “Peace, stability and perspective of the Western Balkan”. “The meeting was prevailed by a common spirit of cooperation between Balkan countries in the sense of mutual support and in the sense of reaching our fundamental objectives in meeting the main criteria for Euro-Atlantic integration” – President Sejdiu said.
Concerning Serbia’s reactions to the visit and meetings of President Sejdiu and Minister of Foreign Affairs at the UN, President Sejdiu said that the best answer to these reactions was given during the meetings that they had had in the meantime.
“We gave our best answer during multiple meetings that we had, but we also expressed our appreciation to the countries that support Kosovo. We turn a blind eye to Serbia’s protests, because they are completely irrational. I believe that it would be rather for Serbia to turn back to reality and live the European spirit. We constantly eschewed disputes they tried to stage in many ways, such as their request to exclude us, to prevent us from entering the UN building and so on. We will keep up with our work” – President Sejdiu affirmed.
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