Podgorica, Montenegro. What should be a normal border agreement is turning into Balkan sparks as Kosovo and Montenegro square off in a border dispute.
Podgorica, Montenegro. What should be a normal border agreement is turning into Balkan sparks as Kosovo and Montenegro square off in a border dispute.
Nikola Gegaj told News Front he expected that after the constitution of the new Kosovo parliament there would be sufficient majority in that institution to ratify the border agreement. Parliamentary elections recently took place in Kosovo and the Ramush Haradinaj’s coalition won there. He says that the current demarcation agreement between Montenegro and Kosovo is unacceptable to him.
“In my opinion, this is an internal political dispute in Kosovo. Nevertheless, I believe the view that it is good to put an end to this issue once and for all. Also, I think the attitude towards any matter, including ratification of the border agreement with Montenegro, is different when you are in the opposition than when you are in power,” Gegaj said. He went on to state that this issue would not worsen relations between the two countries, in his opinion.
“It is not like the Montenegrin problem. I don’t see it as an obstacle. We have finished that process. Borders defined in the former Yugoslavia have been accepted. An International commission confirmed the border, we signed the agreement with Kosovo in Vienna and our parliament ratified it,” Gegaj added.
The leader recalled that the USA and the EU foreign policy high representative Federica Mogherini recently invited political parties in Kosovo to ratify the agreement. Gegaj warned that the postponement of the ratification harmed Kosovo’s international credibility, and felt cooler heads would prevail shortly.