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DR. VJOSA OSMANI SADRIU
PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF KOSOVO
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STATEMENT FOR THE MEDIA-PRESS CONFERENCE JAHJAGA-ROMPUY

Today we had a very productive and constructive meeting with President Rompuy. We fully agreed on assessing the path that Kosovo has undertaken so far towards European Integration.

Honourable  President Rompuy,

Honourable journalists,

Today we had a very productive and constructive meeting with President Rompuy. We fully agreed on assessing the path  that Kosovo has undertaken so far towards European Integration. I thanked Mr. Rompuy for his dedication and the dedication of EU member countries for their clear support towards Kosovo, regardless that its independence has not  been recognized yet by five EU member countries, the aim and the opportunity of the Republic of Kosovo to become a member of the European Union with full rights, in the future, has never been questioned.
 
This is in harmony with the European Union enlargement strategy that offers a clear European Perspective to all Western Balkan countries.

Since my last visit, in September of last year, the Republic of Kosovo has made progress on its European agenda. We have received the Visa liberalisation roadmap and we hope that the citizens of Kosovo will be able to travel freely in EU countries in the very near future because the citizens of the Republic of Kosovo remain the only citizens in Europe who do not enjoy this right.

We have received the Feasibility Study for the Stabilization-Association Agreement and all the institutions of Kosovo and its citizens are dedicated to accomplish all the obligations and accelerate the procedures.  

The Republic of Kosovo, based on the evaluation of the International Steering Group, will successfully conclude the period of supervised  independence in September. This is a joint success of the citizens and institutions of Kosovo, and of the international missions that have provided unreserved support since the liberation of Kosovo in 1999. We are currently undertaking the necessary constitutional and legal changes, so that by September all the obligation will pass  to the local institutions, providing all the necessary guarantees for the rights and freedoms of communities, for cultural, religious and historic inheritance and the democratic processes in general, related to freedom of expression, freedom of movement, free movement of goods and capital, separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary. 

The Republic of Kosovo is a democratic country, a state built upon civic principles, where all its citizens regardless of their ethnic or religious background and regardless of the size of their community, enjoy equal rights and freedoms throughout its territory. As a result of the decentralization process, out of 38 municipalities 10 municipalities comprise  Serb ethnic  majority, and one municipality has Turkish ethnic majority, where we have transferred competencies which provide for a wide self-governance. Three municipalities in north of Kosovo have not as yet embraced this process, but we are aiming  to incorporate these three municipalities, until the next municipal elections, in the system of governance by exercising their rights provided by the constitution and the laws of Kosovo.

With the facilitation of EU, the dialogue between the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia is taking place in Brussels. So far, seven agreements have been reached, agreements that ease the lives of citizens on both sides of the border and relax the relations between our two countries. We are not satisfied with the implementation of these agreements and we have requested from EU to find the  mechanisms for monitoring and guaranteeing the implementation of these agreements. 

We expect the  Republic of Serbia to normalize and establish normal neighborly relationship with the Republic of Kosovo, since this is in the interest of both our countries and our citizens.  This will be a factor of peace and stability that has a direct impact in the disintegration of the parallel structures and elimination of the criminal structures in the three municipalities in the north of Kosovo.  The dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia,  is the only way through which we can solve all issues and jointly by assisting  one another to move towards Euro-Atlantic integrations. 

Once again President Rompuy, I thank you for your dedication and the dedication of the institutions of the European Union for providing a clear perspective for membership in European Union to my people and  my country . On this vision, we have general political and national consensus and of all  citizens, because we see our future within the EU.   

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