Rama and Kurti pledge for new dynamics in Albania-Kosovo relations in Tirana


 Albin Kurti and Edi Rama at the official meeting in Tirana
Albin Kurti is staying in Tirana today, on his first official visit as Kosovo's prime minister.

Kurti was received with a state ceremony at the Palace of Brigades, where he later held talks with the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama.

After the meeting, Rama and Kurti said that during the meeting they discussed bilateral relations and other issues of interest to both countries and the entire region.

Rama said that they had an open conversation about the relations between the two states.

“I am pleased that we have had an open, important, intense communication about where we are and where we want to lead our relationships, aiming at a new speed in terms of cooperation in all areas and finding full engagement and mutual readiness”, Rama said.

He said the two sides would immediately begin preparations for the joint meeting of the two governments, which will be held in Shkodra in late March.

“We have agreed to immediately start preparations for the meeting of the two governments, which will be held in Shkodra because the last one was in Peja, but a vacuum between the two meetings forces us to make the meeting as productive as possible and not only that but in all areas, through both meetings, we will act as an interstate comprised of ministers and representatives of parliamentary institutions, to monitor the progress of agreements, identify problems and address them in the light of achievements or of other decision-making needs ”, Rama said.

Prime Minister Kurti said he and Rama have agreed to give a new impetus to co-operation between the two countries.

“I want in this third decade of the 21 century to have a strong start of Kosovo-Albania cooperation that has never been between our two countries. So, Kosovo and Albania are each other's priority and are not issues that may be waiting, in any kind of field,” Kurti said.

Rama and Kurti were asked what is expected of the joint meeting of the two governments. They said the two sides are willing to strengthen relations and that a joint commission of the two states will first assess the implementation of the two governments' agreements so far.

“We are prime ministers who express the will and plans. The others make the predictions. There is the will, the plan and the interstate commission that will deal with the full applicability of the agreements and their addition, from the double checks and verifications that our two states have, to the fact that in Kosovo, you need to have a residence permit, and to obtain a work permit you must have a residence permit. There is a list of abnormalities that we will tackle and eliminate, so that our two countries are closer to each other and integrated, for the sake of our citizens,” Kurti said.

Rama expressed his conviction that together with Kurti they will increase the speed of the process of implementation of the agreements between the two governments.

"It is true that we need a new speed. Albin calls it a new beginning. He is new to the job, but a new speed is essential. We have a lot of agreements, some of them have been doing well, some of them are not doing well, and we believe that the interstate commission will enable the two governments to meet not just to sign new agreements, but to see the progress of the existing agreements, will enable both of us to follow and push in the right direction at those points where the commission will find that there is a need for exercising the governing will,” Rama said.

The Prime Minister of Albania emphasized the procedure for providing Albanian citizens with work permits in Kosovo. According to him, Kosovo citizens do not need any bureaucratic procedures to work in Albania, while in Kosovo the procedures are the same. "For both Chinese and Albanians".

“This is a bureaucracy issue. It is not about the governing will that is complete. Our challenge is to make the bureaucratic machine move at the speed of our desire. In this regard, as Albin comes with new energy, it is potential to push more and we believe we will be able to push more. I believe that you will judge us for the facts and not for the ceremonial greetings," Rama said.

The prime ministers of Kosovo and Albania claimed that the talk at their first official meeting as prime ministers was also the initiative for the "Balkan miniseries". But they expressed different views on the subject. Kurti said the focus of the meeting was the opening of the two countries to one another, which he called "Albanian macro-Schengen" rather than regional co-operation.

“This was our first meeting. There are also many topics that we will address in the future. I can say that this was a topic we dealt with, but in short, since our meeting today has been focused more on, let's say, Albanian mini-Schengen than the Balkan macro-Schengen.” Kurti said.

This approach did not please Rama, who expressed the conviction that what Kurti called the "Albanian macro-Schengen" depended on the "Balkan mini-Schengen".

“It is true that at this point we have a discussion to move forward. I believe there is no Albanian macro-Schengen, without the Balkan mini-Schengen ", Rama replied.

“The Albanian Macro Schengen is closely linked to the regional Schengen. It is up to us to do our best and not waste time,” he said. than on Balkan mini-Schengen."
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