Pristina, July 3, 2011
During a conference at the International Airport of Pristina, the leader of Kosovo delegation for the dialogue with Serbia, Deputy Prime Minister Edita Tahiri, reiterated that the Pristina-Belgrade agreements reached are the first step towards the recognition of Kosovo’s independence from Serbia.
Mrs. Tahiri stated that in the fifth round of the technical dialogue, as a new state, Kosovo made a step forward in establishing several inter-state agreements with the Serbian state and deemed that this process and this progress first of all contributes to the improvement of the life of citizens which was the main focus and interest of the Government, adding that these agreements on free movement, the mutual recognition of university diplomas and the civil registers constitute the first steps towards the normalization of the relationship between the two countries.
“This is Serbia’s first step towards the recognition of the independence of Kosovo. The free movement agreement is an agreement where the Government of the Republic of Kosovo and myself as the main representative in these talks, have preserved the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, its sovereignty, and we have worked that the agreements be in harmony with laws but also with the resolution of the Assembly”, stated Deputy Prime Minister Tahiri and added that the agreement on free movement is based on the principle of full reciprocity between the two countries on the free movement of people and of vehicles. Practically, this agreement enables the citizens of the Republic of Kosovo to move into Serbia with travel documents of the Republic of Kosovo and all the elements of the agreement are reciprocal.
“That which is valid for the citizens of Kosovo while travelling to or via Serbia is also valid for the citizens of Serbia travelling to or via Kosovo”, asserts Deputy Prime Minister Edita Tahiri. She said that an important element of the agreement is that both countries have made the decision to allow border crossing with ID cards. Therefore, our citizens with ID cards of the Republic of Kosovo will soon be able to travel to Serbia and I can also point that such a practice of travelling with ID cards is an ongoing practice in many countries of the region.”
In terms of the mutual recognition of university diplomas Mrs. Tahiri said that it a very good news in particular for the Albanians of Presheva Valley as they usually pursue their education in Kosovo and after that they encounter difficulties in diploma recognitions wither for pursuing further education or for employment purposes.
“With regard to civil registers, the agreement foresees returning all certified copies of the civil registers. This is a provisional solution. We agreed to this because this way we fulfill the civil register frame and we also meet one of the visa liberalization criteria on which we are fully engaged”, underscored Deputy Prime Minister Edita Tahiri.
Deputy Prime Minister Edita Tahiri announced that the third round will be held during this month and that a new agreements package is expected which will also be in the spirit of inter-state reciprocal agreements of the European values.
“As a conclusion I can say that entering into dialogue with Serbia has not been easy for Kosovo as knowing the negative background that Serbia has in Kosovo, this has only made this undertaking more sensitive and heavier. However, as a Government we have made this decision as we have exercised the sovereignty in the foreign policy, we have taken the international duty according to the UN resolution and we have established closed relations with the EU and are expecting that the technical dialogue will produce concrete effects towards EU approximation and our requests are the visa liberalization, entering into contractual relations and expediting the candidate status. This is the entire context of our engagement and these are our objectives”, stated the chief of Kosovo delegation for the dialogue with Serbia, Deputy Prime Minister Edita Tahiri.
Last modified: July 31, 2022