During the meeting, they discussed the current situation in Kosovo and the dialogue process mediated by the European Union.

“The next chapter of the normalization dialogue should take into account the Serbia’s terrorist attack on September 24, for which there is sufficient evidence and facts for Serbia’s involvement,” Kurti said.

“The approach to the dialogue process must be balanced, the Basic Agreement and its annex must be fully respected and implemented. Serbia must back down from the public and factual rejection of the parts of the Basic Agreement which are related to the de-facto recognition of Kosovo and our territorial integrity,” he added.

Further, Kurti and Roth discussed about Kosovo’s membership in international organizations and bilateral relations between Kosovo and Germany.

The Kosovo Prime Minister Kurti expressed grateful thanks to Germany for the continued support to the Republic of Kosovo.

This is the second meeting between Kurti and Roth, after the first one held in Pristina on September 11. //a.i/

Minister Xhaçka underlined that Minister Roth’s visit is another clear signal of Germany’s commitment to supporting the integration processes in the Western Balkans.

In her remarks Minister Xhaçka praised the stance and commitment of Berlin, not only during the EU presidency, but also afterwards on reaching a consensus within the EU on the rapid adoption of the Negotiating Framework and the holding of the first Intergovernmental Conference.

“We did our homework. Things are moving in the right direction, even in the fight against corruption and organized crime. If you look at how much work has been done since the March 2020 decision of the Council, despite the fact that the last 15 months have been among the most difficult in our history, we have shown our commitment to the integration process,”Minister Xhaçka said during the bilateral meeting. //a.i/

In the joint press conference with the German Minister of State for European Affairs Michael Roth, PM Rama described him as a dear friend of Albania and an advocate of the European journey of our entire region, but also of Albania in particular.

“This visit is on the eve of another meeting of the European Council for an important decision-making regarding Albania and North Macedonia. I am very glad that today everyone is saying that Albania has made all its tasks and the approval of the negotiating framework based on the decision taken for opening of negotiations by the European Council itself and the holding of the first Intergovernmental Conference is simply and only an internal matter of the European Council “, said Rama.

He stressed that, “At a time when beyond the fact that there seems to be a more positive trend than ever internally, the EU faces another surprise from the Balkans and the surrounding world, related to the stalemate between North Macedonia and Bulgaria. ”.

The prime minister stated that, “I can only repeat the same thing and I say with conviction and facts that we must immediately open the process and the EU must follow the decision taken by adopting the negotiating framework and convene the first Intergovernmental Conference”.

“I do not know whether this will happen or not, because it depends on resolve of the deadlock between Bulgaria and North Macedonia and when Bulgaria will be ready to remove the barricade. No decision can be taken without consensus “, said Rama.

The prime minister considered it important that today, “We have a general support from all countries, and especially from Germany, to move forward.”

“The Minister will speak for himself, but to conclude I want to express a public thanks for all the support, not only for this topic, but in general that we had from the Federal Republic of Germany, the German government and the German Parliament”, said Rama.

I wish, he continued, that in this summer season we have many tourists from Germany. I also told the minister that, contrary to what could be perceived by reading the statement of the German Minister of Health, Albania is the most suitable place today in Europe to come on vacations,” said Rama.

Rama also said that it would be much more difficult than postponement of the decision to approve the negotiating framework and the first Intergovernmental Conference, preventing the citizens of the Balkans to travel normally in Europe due to their division into two categories, the category of those who have received the Western vaccine and the category of those who have received the Eastern vaccine.

“I hope this does not happen and I hope that you and other friends will help us to convey this message. There is no reason to divide people into categories, when it comes to their basic right of free movement based on all the rules, but the same for everyone,” said Rama. /j.p/r.e/p.s./

In a joint press statement with the Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama, Roth announced that, the EU will make available 12m euros to the Western Balkans to amortize the social and economic consequences of the pandemic.

“I am happy to show Germany’s sign of solidarity with the Western Balkans, but above all with Albania. There are colleagues within the European Union who say that maybe my heart beats a bit too much for the Western Balkans. I always answer that this is not about my personal preferences, but about a prominent strategic interest of the EU. The Western Balkans is not the backyard, but the inner courtyard of Europe. Peace, stability, democracy, well-being, the rule of law and regional reconciliation are in the European and German interests, and giving emphasis on this, is of great importance to me,” Roth said.

“Many of you are frustrated and to some extent disappointed by the EU, because a lot has been done in the past and you all know that there have been other conditions to be met by Albania, such as the functionality of the Constitutional Court and the High Court,” Roth said.

“My government stance is that Albania has done, has achieved, as it is said of North Macedonia, and for this reason we are working under pressure that on June 22 the Council of Ministers of Europe can take a positive decision,” the German Minister of State for Europe at the Federal Foreign Office, Roth said.

“The rule of law, a functioning justice system, modern administration, respectful approach to cultural and religious minorities. We are not just an economic and monetary community but a community of values and we must fill these values with life. We should not do this alone and the pandemic has shown this. You have made great progress and my assessment goes for that,” he added.

Roth also congratulated Prime Minister Rama on a clear victory in the April 25 elections.

“My congratulations to the Prime Minister, who with his party reached a clear majority and as a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) I can say that this does not seem self-evident. And I want to come to a relationship approach in respect of the government and the opposition. The competition of ideas and persons is the elixir of life of a living democracy and issues of the Electoral Code, democracy and the common values of the EU should shown minimum willingness to compromise. That would be my message to the other side,” Roth said.  //a.i/