The President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, accused the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, of attempting “to disrupt the meeting” of the Brdo-Brijuni Process, which was held on October 6th in Durres, but added that in the end the leaders of the Western Balkans unanimously adopted a joint declaration from the summit.
After the summit, Osmani told the Albanian public broadcaster that Vucic spoke at the summit “with insults and arrogance.”
“For every piece of propaganda Vucic intended to present before the participants, we, as the Republic of Kosovo, had our strong arguments – arguments on the side of justice and arguments that were reinforced and supported by international law, through the opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ),” said Osmani, referring to the decision of the International Court that the declaration of independence of Kosovo in 2008 did not violate international law.
Serbia refuses to recognize the independence of Kosovo and considers the state of Kosovo a part of its territory.
During the summit, according to Vjosa Osmani, Vucic also complained about the defense agreement that Kosovo, Albania, and Croatia reached in March of this year.
“He [Vucic] received our joint confirmation that this represents cooperation aimed at our protection, and my response was that throughout our entire existence as a nation, we have never attacked anyone, never occupied anyone, but we have always defended and will continue to defend our territorial integrity. Our alliances are protective alliances meant to defend us from dangers coming from others. For Kosovo, the danger comes from Serbia, so we will continue to strengthen our army,” said Osmani.
The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, told the media that during the meeting in Durres, there was a clash with the President of Kosovo during the discussion on territorial integrity, which, according to him, everyone interprets as they wish.
“Imagine Vjosa Osmani coming and talking about territorial integrity and the defense of territorial integrity. It makes your stomach turn, and everyone hears it and nods their heads… So I reminded her of her days of tourism in the United Nations (UN), wished her more tourism in her life, and that’s it,” said Vucic.
The leaders of the Western Balkan states met on Monday in Durres, Albania, at the regional Brdo-Brijuni summit, where they discussed the future of the region within the European Union (EU).
Speaking at the opening of the plenary session of the gathering, the President of Albania and the host of the meeting, Bajram Begaj, said that Tirana supports regional dialogue, with a focus on cooperation and the process of European integration.
The meeting focused on the European future of the Western Balkan countries and the strengthening of regional cooperation, especially within the framework of the EU Growth Plan for the region.
While Kosovo is the only country in the region that still does not have candidate status for the EU, Albania has recently made great progress, opening most of the negotiation chapters for membership, while other countries remain stalled.
After the summit, Osmani stated that the EU accession process must not be based only on merit, because, as she said, if that were the case, Kosovo “would have gone much further and we would now be close to membership.”
“But unfortunately, political developments in some member states are blocking that,” Osmani assessed.
As for the EU Growth Plan, a six-billion-euro package adopted in 2023, all the countries of the region have received initial funds, while Kosovo and BiH have not yet.
Kosovo must first ratify the necessary agreement, but the new parliament has still not convened after the February elections, while BiH has not yet submitted the required reform agenda to the European authorities.
Kosovo was represented at this summit by President Vjosa Osmani, and among the participants were also the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic, the President of Montenegro Jakov Milatovic, the members of the Presidency of BiH Zeljko Komsic, Denis Becirovic, and Zeljka Cvijanovic, as well as the President of North Macedonia, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, N1 writes.
