‘’We sent a protest note to all UNESCO members because of the language used by Serbian officials, which is completely unacceptable. In fact, the last phase of the Brussels Agreement is related to the fact that Serbia finally accepts the Ahtisaari’s Package.  Kosovo and Serbia increasingly cemented their interaction as independent states’’.

I am very happy because of the great global support we have received since the beginning of this process. We started in January with our positive information campaign, focused on Kosovo’s needs related to education, science, climate changes, culture. Last week, 44 countries supported the request of the Republic of Kosovo for membership in UNESCO to be included in the agenda of the Executive Board. If you look at the agenda of this board in the past years, this is a record number of countries that have cosigned the initiative and shows that there is a broad argument in the world that Kosovo should not remain isolated, but rather integrated into the international community, said in an interview with Danas Hashim Thaçi, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Kosovo, commenting on the latest moves of the international community related to the application of Kosovo for membership in UNESCO.

Reactions are inconsistent with the Brussels Agreement, and in certain parts are also unacceptable. We sent a protest note to all members because of the language used by Serbian officials, which is completely unacceptable. Serbian ambassador to Paris called for a kind of Christian front against Kosovo, which is mildly speaking, very extremist reaction. I think that most of the UNESCO countries appreciate that we are not engaged in a similar negative campaign, and, to tell you the truth, I am not concerned with Serbian tactics, I’m focused on collecting votes for Kosovo young people to obtain the same opportunities as all other young people around the world by participating in the global body dedicated to culture, education, science.

We have a well-developed strategy that consists of several stages. Now we will focus on how to get a positive recommendation of the Executive Board in October and then also get a two-thirds majority in November. We distributed thousands of materials, books, publications and will continue to provide appropriate information from Kosovo. We are much honored that we were supported by so many countries.

In fact, the last phase of the Brussels Agreement is related to the fact that Serbia finally accepts the Ahtisaari’s Package. They have wasted seven years, but now, step by step, they are accepting all elements of the Ahtisaari’s package. You may wonder why they spend so much time, but as we say in the Balkans, it is better late than never. Implementation is the key, and it is also vital the behavior in accordance with the Brussels Agreement. In Brussels, the Serbian government is very willing to show good neighborly manners towards Kosovo, but then in Paris or New York, they continue to use the language of the past that of Milosevic. I understand that this the pre-election period in Serbia, and as always they are using Kosovo to score nationalist points in public, but as we have seen in Brussels, Kosovo and Serbia are increasingly cementing their interaction as two independent states.

 

The energy system will now operate in accordance with the Kosovo law, the telecommunication system will be integrated into the regulatory network of Kosovo and the Association (of Serb municipalities) will function without executive powers, within the Constitution of Kosovo. Kosovo will have armed forces because this is not just a desire but also a proven necessity. We have received a lot of support from NATO for our security forces and their evolution, and now we have also completed the security strategy. The armed forces of Kosovo will be a multiethnic army under civilian control and it will be very good if the Serbian politicians in Kosovo also see it as a contribution to peace and stable security architecture in the Balkans. We are also aware that these forces must be integrated into the Atlantic family of nations so we could in close contact with our allies complete this transformation in an appropriate manner.