Vetëvendosje MP Hekuran Murati believes that Albania and Prime Minister Edi Rama should not have become part of the Balkan mini-Schengen. According to him, this initiative is not in favour of Albanians.
“Albania should not have become a part of it because it does not favour our people”, Murati during a conversation with Neritan Sejamini on Euronews.
He said Vucic should not be “enabled to present [Serbia] a reformed state, as he has committed crimes.”
Murati referred to the finding of bodies in Rashica, Serbia, on November 15, which are thought to be the remains of Albanian victims:
“We have the exhumation of missing persons who are still in Serbian territory. And without resolving these problems, they [Albania and Rama]. should not do Serbia any favours.”
He added that the initiative risks further destroying the borders of Kosovo as Serbia still refuses to recognise them.
“Politically, as long as we don’t have equal mutual treatment with the other states, we cannot talk about such initiatives that remove borders without recognizing them,” he said, adding that it has no political or economic benefits.
“We support regional cooperation but not in the interests of countries that have a hostile approach and in replacement of the strategies and orientation of the EU.”
Vetëvendosje and former Prime Minister Albin Kurti have publicly opposed the project to create a Balkan mini-Schengen.
During a visit to Tirana, Kurti stated that it is worth talking about the Albania-Kosovo macro-Schengen and not about the one with Serbia.
Genitan Elezi, an expert from the ACIT centre said that the big winners of the initiative will be Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and North Macedonia. The only solution, he said, is the integration of Kosovo’s economy with Albania’s. This will lead to increased competitiveness in the region and in Europe, he added.
He said that there have been no obstacles between Kosovo and Albania in terms of achieving this, but the governments have been slow to progress.
“No one has prevented us from integrating with Kosovo. Half of the agreement was successfully implemented, but the pace should have been faster…There are no obstacles.”
