Prishtina, January 15, 2017 – The President of the Republic of Kosovo, Hashim Thaçi, said that he is pleased that the tensioning of the political situation and the security in Kosovo and the region has been avoided, by banning the eventual illegal entry of the Serbian propagandistic train in the territory of Kosovo.
He said that Kosovo respects the freedom of movement of people and goods and for this purpose new border crossings with the neighbors have been opened, and agreements have been reached which allow crossing the border only with ID cards, for all the citizens of the region to move without obstacles.
In the recent period, as part of an old scenario, President Thaçi said that Serbia has unfortunately undertaken a campaign of constant provocations which aim to produce tensions in Kosovo and the region.
This is the full statement of the President Thaçi:
I am pleased that the tensioning of the political situation and the security in Kosovo and the region has been avoided, by banning the eventual illegal entry of the Serbian propagandistic train in the territory of Kosovo.
Kosovo respects the freedom of movement of people and goods. For this purpose, we have opened new border crossings with the neighbors and have reached agreements which allow crossing the border only with ID, for all the citizens of the region to move without obstacles.
In the recent period, as part of an old scenario, Serbia has unfortunately undertake a campaign of constant provocations which aim to produce tensions in Kosovo and the region.
Part of this scenario was also the transformation of the train in a propaganda tool, clothed in messages and pictures aimed at provoking and tensioning the situation in Kosovo and which were in contradiction with the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo and the European and international conventions.
To prevent this scenario, the Kosovo authorities assessed that it is in the interest of peace and stability in the region not to allow the illegal entry of the propagandistic train. Therefore, the law enforcement and security authorities took measures to prevent the violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Kosovo by the Serbian authorities.
I hope that the Serbian authorities have understood that their action was illegal and contrary to the spirit of dialogue and cooperation that we are promoting in the region.
The threats of the Serbian authorities that they are ready for war and ready to send military forces in Kosovo, clearly show that the goals of Serbia are similar to those of the Miloševic regime during the 90s.
These threats for war are unacceptable, contrary to the dialogue for the normalization of the relations and directly threaten peace in the Western Balkans.
Despite this old threatening and provocative language coming from Serbia, I call to proceed with the so far path of dialogue, cooperation and the implementation of agreements reached between the two countries and to work for the full normalization of relations between the Republic of Kosovo and Serbia.
Kosovo, as always, remains committed to dialogue and cooperation in the service of peace and stability in the region.