Kurti: Choosing North Macedonia For Next Meeting With Vucic Is Symbolic

Albin Kurti (Beta/AP/Visar Kryeziu)

Kosovo Premier Albin Kurti stated in Skopje on March 1 that selecting North Macedonia as the location of the next high-level meeting within the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue was symbolic, because that was where the Kumanovo agreement was signed in 1999, marking the capitulation of the then president of FR Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic.

Speaking at the Second Economic Forum in Skopje, Kurti said that EU High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security Josep Borrell had chosen North Macedonia as the place for the next meeting for several reasons – because Skopje is the largest city in the proximity of Pristina, with great influence on the entire region, and because North Macedonia is advancing in democracy, rule of law and European integration.

“North Macedonia or, more accurately, Kumanovo is where the so-called Kumanovo agreement was signed for the capitulation of the former president of FR Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic, and the deployment of NATO troops in Kosovo. Therefore, North Macedonia has a symbolic role and that it why Borrell has invited us here,” Kurti said, adding that relations between Kosovo and Serbia should be normalized and that normalization could only be accomplished through mutual recognition.

The European Union published the text of the proposed agreement on the road to normalization between Kosovo and Serbia after the meeting of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Premier Albin Kurti in Brussels on Feb. 27. They are to continue negotiations in Skopje on March 18.